After releasing Kisaragi from his embrace, Kaiba's face snapped back into its usual cold mask. Without another word, he strode toward the elevator at the exit.
K-Kaiba… You hugged me, and then you just walked off with that face? Kisaragi grumbled inwardly.
In truth, Kaiba's heart was pounding violently. If he hadn't spent years perfecting his composure, everyone would've seen a very different Seto Kaiba.
Just then, Joey stepped into his path.
Kaiba's eyes turned icy the moment he saw him.
"Second-rate. What do you think you're doing in my way?"
"Kaiba," Joey said, forcing a grin, "you can say your Battle City is over all you want, but mine isn't. How about we fight for third place?"
"Joey!" Mai started to cut in, trying to stop him.
"Joey, are you still hung up on losing to Kaiba at school?" Tristan asked.
"Of course I am," Joey shot back. "But my deck sucked back then, so yeah—losing made sense. This time? Not happening."
"Hmph. I have no interest in measuring myself against a third-rate duelist," Kaiba said flatly. "The outcome is obvious, and I'm not wasting my time."
He started to brush past Joey.
Joey's eyes narrowed.
"What—without the God Card you don't even know how to duel anymore? Afraid you'll lose to me, so you're running your mouth?"
That did it.
A wave of pure rage rolled off Kaiba so thick the air seemed to drop in temperature.
"…Fine," Kaiba said, voice dangerously calm. "If you're truly begging to die, I'll grant your wish."
Even Joey felt his body jerk with a reflexive shiver.
"Kaiba's pissed," Tristan muttered. "Joey's done."
In a cleared patch of rubble outside the Duel Tower, Kaiba and Joey faced each other. They raised their Duel Disks at the same time.
"DUEL!"
Joey Wheeler: 4000 LPSeto Kaiba: 4000 LP
Joey's expression was stiff—almost locked in place.
"Uh… Joey's okay, right?" Tristan asked.
"Joey's strong now," Yami Yugi said quietly. "He fought his way through Battle City match after match. Even getting crushed by Kisaragi in the semifinal didn't break his spirit."
"Go, Joey!" Serenity called out.
"Yeah—win or lose, it's not shameful. Your opponent is Kaiba," Mai said, arms folded.
"Shut up! Is that how you cheer someone on? You're already assuming I'm gonna lose!" Joey snapped.
Mai smirked. "Heh."
Tristan exhaled. "Mai's good. She's using her words to get him to loosen up."
From where she stood, Kisaragi watched calmly.
Joey's not bad… but compared to Seto, he's still nowhere close. This one should be Seto's win, she thought.
"Since I challenged you, I'll take the first move!"
"My turn—draw!"
"I activate Cards of the Red Stone! I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand to the Graveyard to draw two cards—then I send Red-Eyes Wyvern from my Deck to the Graveyard!"
He set two cards face-down.
"End turn." (Cards in hand: 4)
At the end of his turn—
"I activate Red-Eyes Wyvern's effect! During the End Phase, I banish it from my Graveyard to Special Summon 1 'Red-Eyes' monster from my Graveyard!"
"Come on—Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400 / DEF 2000)
"Nice, Joey!" Tristan pumped a fist. "First turn and you've already got Red-Eyes out!"
"Yeah," Duke nodded. "He's got tempo now."
"My turn—draw."
Kaiba's mouth curled.
"Hmph. 'Red-Eyes.' A third-rate duelist crawling this far only because of Kisaragi's charity… Now I'll show you the gap you can never cross."
"I activate Trade-In! I discard an 8-star monster—Dragon Spirit of White—and draw two cards!"
"Then I activate Quick-Play Spell Silver Dragon's Roar! Since Dragon Spirit of White can be treated as a Normal Monster in the Graveyard, I Special Summon it!"
Dragon Spirit of White (ATK 2500 / DEF 2000)
"Dragon Spirit of White's effect activates! When it's Summoned, I target 1 Spell/Trap you control and banish it."
"Joey—your rightmost face-down."
One of Joey's set cards vanished.
Dark Binding Curse—banished.
"Battle. Dragon Spirit of White, attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Red-Eyes took the blast head-on.
Joey's LP: 4000 → 3900
"In response—Trap Card, Fellow Traveler!"
Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "What—?!"
"When one of my monsters is sent to the Graveyard by battle, or when a monster on the field is sent to the Graveyard, I can target 1 monster on the field—destroy it!"
"I destroy Dragon Spirit of White!"
Joey's grin flashed—sharp, confident.
"And I know this: Dragon Spirit of White needs my monster on the field to Special Summon Blue-Eyes off its effect line. My monster's gone—so you don't get to ride that momentum!"
"Not bad," Tristan shouted. "Joey actually took down Kaiba's monster!"
Kaiba clicked his tongue.
"Hmph. My turn isn't over."
"I Normal Summon Maiden with Eyes of Blue in Attack Position."
Maiden with Eyes of Blue (ATK 0 / DEF 0)
He set two more cards.
"End turn." (Cards in hand: 2)
"My turn—draw!"
(The excerpt ends here.)
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 80
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 70
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 35
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 34
I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 24
No One Knows Pokémon Better 18
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin