Episode 58: The True Card King vs. The False Card King

"Since the tournament has begun, I'll start with these five... Huh? Where are they?" Muttering to himself, the man in the black cloak shifted his gaze from the computer screen, looking toward the spot where the five had just formed their temporary group. But when he looked, there was no one there! They had all disappeared!

"Wait! Phew... Yugi Mutou hasn't gone far!" Scanning the area, the black-cloaked man realized that although the five had left their previous spot, Yugi Mutou was still wandering alone in the vicinity.

With only Yugi remaining nearby, there was no reason to hesitate. He would be his first prey in this tournament!

He opened his mouth, exhaling softly, about to call out to Yugi to attract his attention, when an unfamiliar yet vaguely familiar voice came from his right:

"Leaka Hunter from the Gurus Corporation, wandering the streets in broad daylight in a black cloak—are you just so ugly you don't want anyone to see you?"

That voice drew the attention of the surrounding crowd, who all turned to look at the speaker.

"The new president of Illusion Society!?"

As the newly appointed president of Illusion Society and one of the organizers of this urban tournament, it was unexpected to see him appear here!

"Yuei!"

The crowd's cries also caught the attention of Yugi, who was strolling about, watching others duel.

"Yes." Yuei nodded toward Yugi, then turned his gaze back to the man cloaked head-to-toe in black.

"Hmph! As expected of the new president of the International Illusion Society. Your information network is impressive!" Now that his identity had been exposed, Leaka Hunter stopped hiding. He removed his hood, revealing his bizarrely drawn and genuinely grotesque face.

"Ahahahahaha!" Unable to hold back, our little angel Yugi burst into laughter the moment he saw the black-cloaked man's face. Yuei had been right—he was indeed hideous! And not just that, his appearance was utterly uncanny!

Not only Yugi, but the crowd that had gathered after recognizing Yuei's identity also began to cover their mouths, snickering at Leaka Hunter's visage.

"Damn you, President Yuei! I hereby challenge you!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Leaka Hunter shifted his dueling target to the newly arrived president.

Even if his opponent was the new president of the International Illusion Society, champion of the Duel Kingdom tournament, and the first ever 'Duel King' of the Duel Monsters world, he would make sure this ridicule was returned!

And where did his confidence to avenge this humiliation come from?

Naturally, from the three sets of forged copies of "Dark Grandmaster - Exodia" in his deck!

"Duel!"

Leaka Hunter: 4000 LP
Yuei: 4000 LP

"I'll take the first turn! Draw!"

Winning the duel disk's initiative, Leaka Hunter drew a card from the top of his deck, adding it to his hand.

Seeing his six cards, he couldn't help but curl his lips upward, not bothering to hide his satisfaction.

'I've already got two Exodia pieces, and they're different ones! Plus two Angel's Charity cards!'

If he couldn't win with such a starting hand, he'd have no face left to return to his master!

"I set a monster in defense position, then activate two 'Angel's Charity' cards!"

Leaka Hunter set a monster, then immediately played both Angel's Charity cards from his hand.

Six cards were drawn from his deck in an instant; after a quick glance, Leaka Hunter knew exactly which cards he would keep.

"I discard four cards, set one more, and end my turn."

[Leaka Hunter: 4000 LP, hand: 4, Monster Zone: 1 face-down defense, Spell/Trap Zone: 1 set]

"My turn. Draw!"

In the original anime, this would be Yugi dueling Leaka Hunter of Gurus, to reclaim Jonouchi's stolen Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

But now, it was Yuei taking up the duel, with Yugi watching from the sidelines. Why?

Because both Yugi and Jonouchi's duel disks had been personally delivered to them by Yuei. In the anime, the two had entered a Gurus Corporation card shop run by small-time henchmen, received their duel disks there, and were then targeted, leading to the duel where the Red-Eyes was stolen.

By changing the root of the events, Yugi naturally wouldn't seek out Leaka Hunter for a duel as he did in the anime.

Furthermore, Yuei was now one of the tournament's organizers. Would he stand idly by as Gurus Corporation's people used counterfeit cards to sully this grand event?

Never!

That was why he disregarded his own status to confront the opponent directly in a duel—so that, after defeating him, he could gain an opportunity to speak with the mastermind behind Gurus Corporation.

There were words he wished to exchange.

Ahem, back to the duel.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Foolish Burial.' According to its effect, I send 'Elemental Hero - Necroshade' from my deck to the graveyard."

Foolish Burial, a most useful one-for-one graveyard setup spell.

"Then I activate Necroshade's effect in the graveyard. By banishing it, I can, for this turn, summon an 'Elemental Hero' monster of Level 5 or higher without tribute!"

With Necroshade, one of only two main deck 'Elemental Hero' monsters that require tribute for normal summoning, now sacrificed from the graveyard, the other Level 5+ monster, Bladegold Hero, flew from Yuei's hand to the field.

Clad in resplendent golden armor, with gleaming blade arms sharp enough to reflect light.

(Elemental Hero - Bladegold, Level 7, ATK: 2600)

"Next, I set two cards. Then, I enter the Battle Phase!"

Following his master's command, Bladegold Hero advanced. The moment he raised his blade arms, the face-down monster flipped up.

The four-star 'Aztec Statue' monster, boasting a defensive ability to reflect double the damage from low-attack monsters, and a high defense of 2000. But in the face of Bladegold Hero's 2600 ATK, it was easily cleaved in two.

"Bladegold Hero's effect: when attacking a defense position monster, if its ATK exceeds that monster's DEF, the controller receives piercing damage equal to the difference!"

Destroying the statue, Bladegold Hero looked up at Leaka Hunter. As the latter recoiled in fright, Bladegold Hero leapt forward and brought down his blade arms once more.

"Ah!"

(Leaka Hunter: 4000 LP → 3400 LP)

"My turn ends."

[Yuei: 4000 LP, hand: 2, Monster Zone: Elemental Hero - Bladegold, Spell/Trap Zone: 2 set]