Let’s Duel!
20: Chapter 20: Enough Talk.
Let’s Duel!
“Come on.” Jamie dismissed all the flashy projections and visual effects, took out a Deck, gave it a thorough shuffle, and loaded it into his Duel Disk.
“What?” Kaiba was still processing everything Jamie had just shown him, but when he saw the unmistakable preparation for a Duel, he took out his own Deck as well, shuffled it carefully, and inserted it into his Duel Disk.
“If you’re one of the strongest Duelists of this era, then words alone were never going to convince you,” Jamie said.
“No matter how much evidence I put in front of you, you wouldn’t truly believe it just because I told you to.” He stepped back until there was enough distance between them.
“So let’s prove everything in the simplest, most direct way possible.” Jamie met Kaiba’s eyes.
“Seto Kaiba, if you hadn’t come looking for me, I wouldn’t have bothered approaching you.
Saving the world isn’t some game.
Anyone involved in something like that needs enough conviction to keep moving forward without losing themselves to the merciless passage of time.” “But since things have already come this far, we might as well communicate in the language we both understand best.” Jamie raised his Duel Disk.
“Let’s Duel.” There was a firmness in his expression and every movement he made, the unmistakable conviction of someone who genuinely loved Dueling.
Kaiba could recognize that.
“Hmph.” He removed his Deck and shuffled it once more, this time with far greater care, settling his thoughts as he did.
“Whether your ridiculous story is true or not, I’m beginning to find you interesting.” A sharp gleam flashed through Kaiba’s eyes.
There was something about this mysterious stranger that reminded him of Yugi Muto.
The same confidence.
The same conviction.
And, irritatingly enough, the same air of mystery.
“If you truly came from the future, then show me what Dueling in the future looks like!” “Hehehe…” A mysterious smile spread across Jamie’s face.
“Oh, I’ll show you.
The question is whether you’re actually good enough to see it.” He placed one hand over his Deck.
“Out of respect for you, I’ll use the Deck that represents where I began as a Duelist.” Jamie’s smile faded into determination.
“Give me everything you’ve got, Seto Kaiba.
Show me your strength and your will!” “Duel!” “My turn!
Draw!” [Jamie St.
James LP: 4000] [Seto Kaiba LP: 4000] In a card game, the number of cards in your hand was one of the most valuable resources you possessed.
That was precisely why a brainlessly efficient resource generator like Pot of Greed would eventually be thrown into the Forbidden List and left there to gather dust for eternity.
It was also why the rule allowing the first player to draw on their opening turn would eventually disappear.
Compared to starting with an extra card, the restriction preventing the first player from entering the Battle Phase was almost meaningless.
Plenty of Decks could make the opponent experience unimaginable joy without ever needing to attack.
After three previous Duels, Jamie had become increasingly skilled at stealing the first turn before his opponent could react.
This time, he successfully claimed it again, looked over his six-card opening hand, and smiled in satisfaction.
“I activate Upstart Goblin.
I draw one card, and you gain 1000 Life Points.” [Seto Kaiba LP: 4000 → 5000] A faint look of confusion appeared on Kaiba’s face.
He could not immediately understand the purpose of a card that seemingly accomplished nothing except replacing itself while giving the opponent more Life Points.
Still, Kaiba had entered this Duel specifically to witness what Jamie called “Dueling from the future,” so he did not allow himself to dismiss anything simply because he did not understand it.
Kaiba was proud to the point of arrogance, but he was not foolish enough to treat the unknown carelessly.
Jamie did not have many meaningful lines available from his current hand, nor was there anything complicated to calculate.
He simply took the only monster in his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk.
“I Normal Summon Dinomorphia Diplos.” A white-haired young man clad in futuristic green armor appeared on Jamie’s field.
A long mechanical tail extended behind him, and a wild grin stretched across his face.
[Dinomorphia Diplos] DARK / Level 4 / Dinosaur ATK 1000 / DEF 0 “Once per turn, when Diplos is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send one ‘Dinomorphia’ card from my Deck to the Graveyard.” The mechanical tail, at least three or four meters long, reached toward Jamie’s Deck and pulled out a card, sending it directly to the Graveyard.
Kaiba watched silently.
Underwhelming.
That was his immediate assessment.
For a Level 4 monster, 1000 ATK was mediocre at best, while 0 DEF was outright pathetic.
The effect of sending a card from the Deck to the Graveyard did not strike Kaiba as particularly impressive either.
At most, he assumed Jamie’s Deck probably relied on reviving monsters from the Graveyard.
The monster’s design, however, certainly looked like something from a more technologically advanced era.
Before Kaiba could finish analyzing it, Jamie’s next actions completely shattered his initial theory.
“One face-down.” Jamie Set a card.
“Two.” Another card joined it.
“Three.” Then another.
“Four.” Four face-down cards now occupied Jamie’s back row.
He still had one card left in his hand.
Jamie smiled brightly.
“I pass.
Your turn.” “Hmph!” Kaiba drew.
His mind immediately began turning.
“This is what you call Dueling from the future?
Are Duelists of your era all this timid, or were you simply lying to me from the beginning?” Four face-down cards did not impress him.
To Kaiba, they looked more like proof that Jamie lacked the courage to attack.
Leaving a monster with only 1000 ATK sitting openly in Attack Position seemed equally foolish.
Unless, of course, Jamie was deliberately using it as bait.
“True strength isn’t the same thing as blindly charging forward,” Jamie replied with a smile.
“Intelligence matters in Duel Monsters too.” Duelists from this era really were wonderfully innocent.
Back in Jamie’s original world, if an opponent saw a Dinomorphia monster backed by four Set cards, they would probably Special Summon two fists in Attack Position, punch the table, and move straight to the surrender screen.
“Then show me this so-called intelligence of the future!” Kaiba revealed a monster.
“Because I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Kaiser Vorse Raider from my hand in Attack Position!” [Kaiser Vorse Raider] DARK / Level 5 / Beast-Warrior ATK 1900 / DEF 1200 The savage warrior appeared with an enormous battle-axe in hand and let out a piercing roar.
It barely had time to plant its feet.
A vast pit suddenly opened beneath it.
Kaiser Vorse Raider dropped straight inside and vanished.
“I activate Bottomless Trap Hole,” Jamie explained pleasantly as one of his four Set cards flipped face-up.
“When you Summon a monster with 1500 or more ATK, Bottomless Trap Hole destroys that monster and banishes it.” Kaiba’s eyelid twitched.
Losing a 1900-ATK monster was irritating.
Kaiser Vorse Raider had not consumed his Normal Summon, but its disappearance still meant he no longer had enough monsters to bring Blue-Eyes White Dragon out this turn.
His initial offensive plan had been stopped before it could begin.
Fine.
If aggression was not available, Kaiba would simply rely on his unbeatable Trap combination instead.
He looked at two cards in his hand and made his decision.
“I Set one monster and two cards face-down.
Turn end.” ‘Go ahead.
Attack.’ Even if Jamie truly possessed a Deck from the future, it would mean nothing if Kaiba stripped away his powerful monsters.
Then Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Obelisk the Tormentor would crush whatever remained.