Jamie had four cards in his hand, three Set cards in his back row, and additional resources waiting in the Graveyard.
The Duel was still firmly under his control.
“I activate another Upstart Goblin.
I draw one card, and you gain 1000 Life Points.” Jamie glanced at Kaiba.
“And if you’re still wondering what the point of this card is, the simplest explanation is that it turns my forty-card Deck into a thirty-seven-card Deck.” Kaiba paused for only a moment before responding to the activation.
“Hmph!
The moment you activate that Spell, I activate my face-down Trap!
This Duel ends here!” His card flipped.
“Ring of Destruction!
Regret reducing your own Life Points so recklessly!
I target my face-up Giant Germ and destroy it, then both of us take damage equal to its ATK!” Kaiba thrust out one hand.
“Giant Germ has 1000 ATK, while you only have 750 Life Points left!” The ring-shaped explosive device locked around Giant Germ.
A second later, it detonated.
The blast sent a wave of smoke and wind across the battlefield.
[Seto Kaiba LP: 5000 → 4000] Kaiba frowned.
The sight reminded him far too much of what had happened when Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacked Jamie earlier.
And, exactly as he feared, Jamie’s Life Points did not move.
“Sorry.” Jamie smiled.
“Much like the Dinomorphia Trap I used to stop your Blue-Eyes from dealing battle damage, most of my Dinomorphia Normal Traps have another effect in the Graveyard.
While my Life Points are 2000 or lower, when you activate a monster, Spell, or Trap effect, I can banish one of them from the Graveyard so that I take no effect damage from your card effects for the rest of this turn.” Jamie gestured toward the vanished Giant Germ.
“So your Ring of Destruction only blew up you.” Before Kaiba could respond, Upstart Goblin finished resolving.
“But don’t worry.
My Upstart Goblin just gave those Life Points right back.” Jamie smiled sweetly.
“No need to thank me.” [Seto Kaiba LP: 4000 → 5000] “Hmph.
I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.” Kaiba found himself comparing Jamie to Joey Wheeler again.
“You’re almost as stubbornly difficult to kill as that mutt.” The thought was strangely irritating.
Both of them possessed the same almost ridiculous tenacity.
The difference was that Joey usually demonstrated his tenacity by getting beaten down, losing, and then dragging himself back up afterward to continue moving forward.
Jamie was different.
Since this Duel began, Kaiba himself had inflicted only 500 damage on him.
Jamie had personally carved his own Life Points down to 750.
Yet no matter how close Jamie brought himself to defeat, Kaiba seemed completely incapable of taking away that final sliver.
While Kaiba’s thoughts wandered, Jamie resumed his turn.
Kaiba had no Set cards remaining now.
That meant Jamie’s next sequence was safe.
“I activate my Set Trap, Dinomorphia Alert!
I pay half my Life Points, then Special Summon up to two ‘Dinomorphia’ monsters from my Graveyard whose total Levels are eight or lower.
I can’t declare attacks with those monsters this turn, and I can’t Special Summon anything except Dinomorphia monsters for the rest of the turn.” [Jamie St.
James LP: 750 → 375] “The monsters I’m bringing back are Therizia and Diplos!” A piercing alarm rang across the field.
Dark red warning lights washed over the battlefield as two shadows darted through the glow.
Moments later, Dinomorphia Therizia and Dinomorphia Diplos appeared in front of Jamie.
“And because they’ve been Special Summoned, their effects activate.” Jamie sent another card from his Deck to the Graveyard.
“I send Dinomorphia Shell to the Graveyard.” Another Normal Trap joined the resources already waiting there.
Jamie chose not to activate Therizia’s effect to Set another Trap.
He simply did not have enough room in his Spell & Trap Zones once the cards in his hand were accounted for.
Such were the problems that came with abundance.
Or, more accurately in this case, with being an absolute menace.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Jamie added.
“Your Crush Card Virus wasn’t completely useless against me earlier.” Kaiba looked at him.
“You sent every copy of Therizia in my Deck to the Graveyard, which actually made putting the materials I needed together a little more annoying.” The smile Jamie gave him was beginning to irritate Kaiba.
Ever since they met, Jamie had barely stopped smiling.
In Kaiba’s experience, the happier someone smiled, the blacker their heart usually was—and the more vicious they became once they started acting.
“Don’t blink,” Jamie said.
“I’m about to show you the strongest monster in this Deck.” He flipped another Trap.
“I activate Dinomorphia Domain!
During either player’s Main Phase, I pay half my Life Points, then Fusion Summon a ‘Dinomorphia’ Fusion Monster by sending its listed Fusion Materials from my hand, Deck, or field to the Graveyard!” [Jamie St.
James LP: 375 → 188] “The materials are two Dinomorphia monsters with different names.
I send Therizia and Diplos to the Graveyard!” Jamie raised his arm.
“Fusion Summon!” “Appear in Attack Position—Dinomorphia Kentregina!” A phantom city from the future rose around them.
Beneath a night sky filled with towering neon-lit buildings, Therizia and Diplos raced between skyscrapers.
Then a tremendous howl tore through the cityscape, followed by a blast of wind strong enough to force Kaiba to shield his eyes.
When the gale finally subsided, Therizia and Diplos were gone.
A new warrior stood in their place.
She carried herself with an unmistakable air of danger.
Her futuristic armor was considerably more advanced than either Therizia’s or Diplos’s, while brilliant energy blades extended from both arms with murderous precision.
[Dinomorphia Kentregina] DARK / Level 6 / Dinosaur ATK: 4000 → 3812 DEF: 0 “What?!” Kaiba’s eyes widened.
“A Trap Card that Fusion Summons?
And it can use monsters directly from the Deck?!
A Level 6 monster with 4000 ATK?!” His gaze briefly dropped toward the Polymerization in his own hand.
For perhaps the first time in his life, it looked considerably less impressive.
“Fusion Summoning from the Deck and Fusion Summoning through Trap Cards are both specialties of future Dueling,” Jamie said.
“You really should experience them at least once.” He sighed dramatically.
“Unfortunately, you didn’t give me a chance to show you everything.” Then he pointed toward Kentregina.
“Her ATK decreases by an amount equal to my Life Points.
Since I’m sitting at only 188 right now, she still has 3812 ATK.” Jamie grinned.
“More than enough to beat the hell out of your Blue-Eyes White Dragon.” And this was nowhere near the worst Fusion Summoning could eventually become.
Jamie had not even brought out those two men or that dragon yet.
“3812 ATK…” Kaiba stared at Kentregina.
“So this is why you’ve been reducing your own Life Points?” “Yes and no.” Jamie smiled.
“A real Duelist shouldn’t make his intentions so easy to read.
Unlike that Crush Card Virus strategy of yours, which practically came with a giant sign explaining what you were doing.” “Hmph.
You still fell into it.” “Fell into it?” Jamie laughed.
“That wasn’t falling into your trap.
You did me a favor!” He spread all four remaining cards from his hand across his Spell & Trap Zones.
“I Set all four Trap Cards in my hand!” Every one of Jamie’s back-row slots was now occupied.
“My hand is officially empty.” Kaiba’s expression changed.
Jamie pointed toward his Graveyard.
“That means I can activate Destiny HERO – Celestial’s Graveyard effect!
If I have no cards in my hand, I can banish Celestial and one other ‘Destiny HERO’ monster from my Graveyard to draw two cards.” He selected the cards.
“I banish Destiny HERO – Celestial and Destiny HERO – Dasher.” Jamie drew two.
Then smiled straight at Kaiba.
“Thanks for dumping them into my Graveyard earlier.” He gave Kaiba a cheerful thumbs-up.
“You really helped me out!” Kaiba’s eyebrow twitched.
“My Deck doesn’t contain Quick Attack, so Kentregina can’t attack on the turn she’s Fusion Summoned under this era’s rules.
But now I’ve got five Set Traps behind her and two cards in my hand.” Jamie tilted his head.
“So how exactly are you planning to deal with that?” His smile widened.
“And by the way, my turn still isn’t over.”