Truly, What a Shame.
21: Chapter 21: What a Shame.
Truly, What a Shame.
The Deck Jamie was using had existed in one form or another for a very long time.
Over the years, he had rebuilt it more times than he could count.
Monsters came and went, Spells were replaced, Traps were swapped out whenever something funnier appeared.
Yet one card had remained untouched through every version.
That card represented Jamie’s beginnings as a Duelist.
His soul card.
His tamashii.
Most of the Deck had never been constructed specifically around that card.
Aside from a handful of cards included to work with it, the rest of the strategy barely acknowledged its existence.
Even so, the Deck had accompanied Jamie for years.
He simply had not used it very often.
Mostly because playing it too much in person carried a genuine risk of someone challenging him to a real-life fistfight afterward.
Fortunately, that was much less of a concern in this world.
Even more interestingly, the emotions Jamie had poured into that particular card over so many years had allowed it to develop a Duel Monster spirit that ordinarily should never have existed.
The spirit itself was not especially powerful compared to the countless monsters that inhabited the Spirit World.
Yet very few spirits dared ignore its presence.
Some were outright wary of it.
The reason was simple.
It was far too unusual.
“My turn.
Draw.” Jamie checked his card.
His soul card had not appeared yet.
Good.
The Duel could continue.
“Battle Phase.
Diplos, attack his face-down monster!” Jamie paused.
He had no idea how Dinomorphia Diplos was actually supposed to attack.
“Uh…
Piercing Strike!” He invented the name on the spot.
Apparently the hologram accepted it.
Diplos leapt into the air, and the long mechanical tail behind him shot forward like a spear toward Kaiba’s Set monster.
The card flipped.
A gigantic black sphere covered in spikes emerged onto Kaiba’s field, looking almost like some grotesquely oversized cell.
Giant Germ.
Kaiba laughed.
“You fell for it!
The moment your monster attacked, I activated my Trap Card—Crush Card Virus (anime effect)!” Jamie raised an eyebrow.
“This card uses a DARK monster with 1000 or less ATK as the carrier for a virus that spreads through your field and Deck!” The power of Crush Card Virus fused with Giant Germ before erupting outward.
Part of the virus engulfed Diplos.
The rest splashed across Jamie’s Deck and seeped inside.
“All monsters you control and all monsters in your Deck with 1500 or more ATK are destroyed!” At the same time, Giant Germ shattered from battle.
“And when Giant Germ is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you take 500 damage.
After that, I can Special Summon any number of Giant Germs from my Deck in face-up Attack Position!” [Jamie St.
James LP: 4000 → 3500] One Giant Germ vanished.
Two more grotesque black spheres appeared on Kaiba’s field.
Jamie’s Deck, meanwhile, had been infected by Crush Card Virus.
Diplos itself survived because its 1000 ATK fell below the virus’s threshold.
Kaiba smiled triumphantly.
“Your Deck has been devastated by the virus, while I’ve gained two monsters I can use as Tributes for Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
On my next turn, my ace will take the field!” He raised his chin.
“No matter what kind of Deck exists in the future, without powerful monsters, you can’t possibly—what?!” Kaiba’s smile disappeared.
The strategy had resolved exactly as intended.
The result, however, was nowhere near what he had expected.
Jamie’s Deck had barely become thinner.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Jamie said as he removed the destroyed monsters from his Deck.
“I really don’t run many monsters with 1500 or more ATK.” Only seven cards had been sent to the Graveyard.
Three of those had even been temporary additions Jamie had specifically made for this Duel.
Among them were three copies of Victoria, included purely as anti-Kaiba tech.
Unfortunately, they were useless now.
Jamie sighed.
What a shame.
He would never get to see the undoubtedly spectacular scene they could have created.
He Set the card he had just drawn and ended his turn, still keeping the same emergency card in his hand.
Diplos remained on the field.
Four cards were Set behind it.
One card remained in Jamie’s hand.
At a glance, his field looked almost exactly the same as it had at the end of his previous turn.
“My turn.
Draw!” Kaiba looked at his newest card and activated it immediately.
“Pot of Greed!
I draw two cards!” [Seto Kaiba: Hand 4] Jamie frowned slightly when he saw the size of Kaiba’s hand.
His Set cards included ways to mitigate the damage if they were destroyed, but something like Heavy Storm would still hurt.
And Kaiba was one of the strongest Duelists of this era.
If he suddenly decided that Heavy Storm was exactly the card he needed, Jamie would not have been remotely surprised if he drew it.
Don’t ask why.
The answer was always the same.
The bond between a Duelist and his Deck.
“I activate Cost Down!” Kaiba declared.
“I discard one card, and every monster in my hand loses two Levels for the rest of this turn!
That means a monster that would normally require two Tributes can now be Tribute Summoned with only one!” Kaiba swept his arm outward.
“Whether your strategy relies on high-ATK monsters or not is irrelevant.
Before the invincible Blue-Eyes White Dragon, everything you do is meaningless!” His expression sharpened.
“Witness absolute power!” Kaiba Tributed one of his Giant Germs.
“If endless darkness lies ahead, then follow the dragon of light and illuminate it!” He raised the card above his Duel Disk.
“Appear, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” A tremendous roar shook the air.
The beautiful white dragon descended onto the battlefield beneath the blazing sun, its arrival carrying a majesty that words could barely capture.
Its radiant scales seemed bright enough to challenge the daylight itself.
Unlike the stiff, lifeless holograms produced by ordinary Duel Disks, Blue-Eyes possessed unmistakably intelligent eyes.
When the dragon appeared, it turned toward Kaiba, and the look it gave him held a closeness that could not possibly be mistaken for an ordinary monster projection.
Seeing the legendary dragon in the flesh—or something close enough to it—for the first time left Jamie momentarily captivated.
It really was beautiful.
Then another thought occurred to him.
‘Wait.
Kaiba just used one Tribute and burned three cards out of his hand to summon his wife?’ Jamie almost winced.
‘Man, you are really talented at losing card advantage.
I cannot let Jaden learn from this guy.’ Then he remembered something more important.
“Hey, System.
Kaiba already summoned his wife.
When are you finally unlocking my Dragonmaids?” The System ignored him.
No matter how beautiful or powerful Blue-Eyes White Dragon might be, however, she was still someone else’s wife.
Jamie was the Champion of Pure Love.
He had no intention of coveting another man’s woman.
Therefore— “The moment you Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon, I activate Dinomorphia Brute!” Kaiba’s eyes sharpened.
“Once per turn, I pay half my Life Points, then destroy one ‘Dinomorphia’ monster I control and one card you control.” Jamie pointed toward Blue-Eyes.
“Your wife is gorgeous, but she’s your wife, not mine.
Off the field you go!” [Jamie St.
James LP: 3500 → 1750] Dinomorphia Diplos sprang upward and latched onto Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
At the same moment, the image of an enormous mechanized weapon emerged from Jamie’s Trap Card and charged toward them.
The machine detonated.
Both monsters vanished in the explosion.
A vein throbbed on Kaiba’s forehead.
His fist clenched.
“YOU…!” Kaiba was furious.
Jamie merely shook his head in genuine regret.
If Crush Card Virus had not sent Victoria to the Graveyard earlier, he could have stolen Kaiba’s wife instead.
What a shame.
Truly, what a shame.