Saiou's face looked pretty ugly.
This Duel King was supposed to be a proper stand‑up guy, yet he actually attacked without even asking anything first, which Saiou really hadn't expected. Isn't there usually at least a token process or something?
But Youyu had zero intention of wasting breath on him. He directly unfolded his Duel Disc, and the Card Deck in the slot "shua shua shua" auto‑shuffled itself.
The meaning he conveyed couldn't be clearer—either we duel, or you pull your Card Deck right back out, just don't drag things out and waste my time!
To hell with evidence or no evidence, to hell with whether you're really the mastermind or not—anyway, the one I'm pounding today is you!
"...All right then."
Saiou still had quite the BOSS vibe. He stood up calmly and straightened his clothes. The crystal ball, round table, and Tarot Cards before him all vanished into thin air, and white light materialized a Duel Disc on his wrist, with a Card Deck already loaded in the slot.
"Looks like there's nothing left to talk about, Duel King. Very well then." He narrowed his eyes. "I've wanted to test it for a long time—my 'Arcana Force' against your 'Hero', which one is truly stronger?
Of course, even without testing, the result is already obvious."
He chuckled coldly, briefly closed his eyes, then suddenly snapped them wide open, his expression twisting ferociously.
"Because destiny has long since been decided! Hahahahaha!!!"
Youyu kept a straight face and stepped back a few paces to open some distance.
"Duel!" x2
[Saiou, LP 4000]
[Youyu, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw." Youyu said, "I Summon 'Chocolate Magician Girl'."
An Array spun open, and a Magician Girl who looked like an adorable little devil flew out, her magic wand sprinkling starlike sparkles.
[Chocolate Magician Girl, ATK 1600]
"Chocolate Magician Girl's effect: once per turn, I discard one Spellcaster-Type Monster from my hand and draw one Card from my Card Deck."
He discarded a card from his hand to the grave and added the drawn card to his hand. Then Youyu immediately picked out another card.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end."
"Magician Girls, huh... too weak, too weak!" Saiou laughed with a twisted face. "'Arcana Force' is the strongest Card Deck that drives destiny forward! Whether it's attack power or effects, it far surpasses those frail magical girls!
My turn, draw! I activate the Magic Card 'Graceful Charity'—draw three cards from my Card Deck, then discard two from my hand."
He pitched two cards from his hand to the grave, then immediately revealed a card in his hand: "Magic Card 'Necromancer Sacrifice'! Choose one or two Monsters in your own graveyard and Special Summon them to your opponent's field!" (anime card)
The two cards he had just discarded to the grave were quickly ejected from the Duel Disc's graveyard and returned to Saiou's hand. He pulled out those two cards, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smirk.
"According to this effect, I Special Summon 'Arcana Force VII - The Chariot' and 'Arcana Force IV - The Emperor' to your field, all of them!"
Two black vortices opened in front of Youyu, gusts of wind roaring out. A bizarre black machine with a metallic shell appeared on his field, its body covered in silver steel tentacles. The other was a black chariot bristling with tentacles, with a ring of eerie eyes embedded in its shell.
[Arcana Force VII - The Chariot, ATK 1700]
[Arcana Force IV - The Emperor, ATK 1400]
The Emperor and the Chariot appeared to the left and right on Youyu's field, sandwiching Chocolate Magician Girl in the middle. The poor magical girl shrank her little head, looking exactly like a newbie trembling in fear between two big bosses.
Two spinning Cards appeared above the heads of the two Arcana Force Monsters.
"Each 'Arcana Force' corresponds to a specific Tarot Card Monster. When they are Summoned, the Card above their heads will stop randomly in either the upright position or the reversed position."
As Saiou explained, a fierce grin hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Just like how the upright and reversed positions of Tarot Cards represent different prophecies, 'Arcana Force' Monsters gain different effects depending on whether they're upright or reversed.
The upright position gives effects that benefit the controller, granting powerful strength and guiding them toward victory.
Conversely, the reversed position is all side effects, backlash that strikes the bearer of the Arcana Force itself."
At this point he spread his arms wide, like some fanatical believer.
"This is 'Arcana Force', the perfect Monsters to symbolize the choices of fate! Hahahaha!"
Saiou's smile turned playful.
"So, Mr. Youyu, why don't you guess whether these two 'Arcana Force' I gifted you are upright or reversed?"
"Reversed." Youyu answered without thinking.
Saiou's BOSS power was "Destiny Manipulation", which let all futures tilt toward his advantage. So whenever he flipped a coin, it would inevitably land in the way that favored him.
A truly broken ability. Even an ultra‑lucky guy like Jounouchi‑type "luck gods" would have times when their luck cratered, but Saiou would not.
It's just that this ability was completely useless on Youyu.
Not because Youyu's Luck Value had soared so high even the goddess of fate couldn't shake it—quite the opposite. His Luck Value was so low and his default luck so awful that Saiou's so‑called "superpower" basically got averaged out...
Yet beyond all expectations, both Arcana Force Cards actually stopped at the upright position—the position that benefitted the controller.
Youyu's eyes narrowed slightly.
What the hell?
Don't tell me all that time beating random scrubs with Luck Value 20 finally paid off, and now that I'm fighting a BOSS my luck suddenly exploded?
But judging from Saiou's reaction, he was clearly overthinking it. Saiou burst out laughing: "Looks like you're pretty lucky today, Mr. Youyu.
The upright effect of Arcana Force VII - The Chariot: when it destroys a Monster by battle, I can Special Summon that Monster to my own field!
The upright effect of Arcana Force IV - The Emperor: all 'Arcana Force' on my field gain 500 attack!"
[Arcana Force VII - The Chariot, ATK 1700 → ATK 2200]
[Arcana Force IV - The Emperor, ATK 1400 → ATK 1900]
Youyu frowned slightly.
Something's fishy, definitely fishy.
He'd always had absolute faith in his own trash luck. When he flipped a coin, it was guaranteed to come up the opposite of what he needed.
He even took a moment to check his status panel again—his Luck Value was still the rock‑solid 20, completely unchanged.
That made it very worth thinking about.
Everyone knows that in Yugi's world, anything gifted by your opponent is worth treating with extreme suspicion. There's always a trap in there somewhere.
"Of course, giving you two Monsters doesn't come without a price." Saiou said. "The follow‑up effect of 'Necromancer Sacrifice': after using this card to Special Summon Monsters to your opponent's field, I can reduce the number of tributes required when I Tribute Summon a Monster, based on the number of Monsters I Summoned.
I Special Summoned 'Arcana Force VII - The Chariot' and 'Arcana Force IV - The Emperor' to your field, for a total of two Monsters, so I can reduce the tribute requirement by two for my Tribute Summon!"
With an exaggerated flourish, Saiou raised a card high and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Descend! Arcana Force XXI—
—The World!!!"