Chapter 209: The Gambling Deck
"It's Hayato's (Gaia)! Ya~da~ze!" Tristan sounded very excited. "Duke Devlin currently has an empty field. As long as Hayato's attack is successful now, he can instantly halve his Life Points!"
Yugi shook his head, "No, Duke Devlin still has a Set card in his back row. We must remain vigilant."
However, Hayato seemed to ignore the Set card, swinging his hand forward. "(Gaia), direct attack Duke Devlin! Whirlwind Charge Tornado!"
A conical whirlwind formed by strong air currents enveloped the spear as it lunged towards Duke Devlin. Facing the direct attack launched by Hayato's monster, Duke Devlin calmly activated his Set card. "You fell for it, Hayato! I activate (Sakuretsu Armor)!"
"Watch your ace monster, (Gaia), perish needlessly because of your own recklessness!"
"It's (Sakuretsu Armor)? Then my (Gaia) isn't going to be destroyed again, is it?" Hayato's face first showed surprise, then his expression changed. "Just kidding, you idiot completely misunderstands the 'never takes effect' curse on the (Sakuretsu Armor) card."
"Activate my Set card, (Attack Reflector Unit)! It can only be activated during the Battle Phase; choose one of its effects to activate!"
Hayato activated one of his two Set cards, the very same (Attack Reflector Unit) he had used in his duel against Pegasus. It was this card that had protected the (Blue-Eyes White Dragon) that had been Special Summoned to Hayato's field from being destroyed.
"I choose its first effect: Target one of my monsters; it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects during this Battle Phase!" Hayato commanded, "Charge straight ahead, (Gaia)!"
A laser shot out from the (Sakuretsu Armor) that Duke Devlin had activated, assailing (Gaia), but (Gaia) seemed not to see it, its charge speed not decreasing in the slightest. Just as the laser was about to hit, a ray of light flew out from behind (Gaia), intercepting the laser.
"Excellent support!" Yami Yugi watched as (Gaia) thrust its spear into Duke Devlin, nodding in approval. Duelists trust their cards, and cards respond to the Duelists' call; monsters trust their Duelists, and Duelists protect their monsters.
[Duke Devlin: 4000 → 1700 LP]
Hayato: "My turn ends."
[Hayato: 4000 LP, hand 0]
[(Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight) ATK 2300]
[Set card]
"Hmph, where's that confidence from when you were boasting earlier, Duke Devlin?" Hayato, with 0 cards in his hand, crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Duke Devlin, who was slightly hunched over from pain. Although on the surface this duel seemed quite ordinary, Hayato actually had more at stake.
However, Hayato had secretly added a little something to (Gaia)'s recent attack, imbuing (Gaia) with some dark power, allowing that attack to inflict real damage. While it wouldn't cause physical wounds, Duke Devlin would fully experience the pain, left to slowly savor it.
Although he knew Duke Devlin would eventually come to his senses and repent, Hayato wouldn't tolerate him bullying Joey. He couldn't inflict excessively severe damage himself, but he could at least make him suffer a bit.
"My turn, draw!" Due to the unexpectedly intense pain, Duke Devlin's hand trembled slightly as he drew a card. "Activate Spell card, (Roll of Fate)!"
After activating the card he had just drawn, a die appeared in Duke Devlin's hand. "This card's effect is: roll a die, draw cards from your Deck equal to the result, then banish cards from the top of your Deck equal to the result from the game."
"Undoubtedly, fate is on my side!" he said, tossing the die in his hand. The die spun round and round on the field before coming to a stop, revealing the highest number, 6.
"Tch, lucky you."
Ignoring Hayato's envy, Duke Devlin drew six cards from his Deck, then banished six cards from the top of his Deck from the game. "Hayato, fate has guided me in everything. You are destined to be defeated by my hand and fall into endless darkness!"
"Activate Spell card, (Summon Dice)! Pay 1000 Life Points, toss a die, then apply the effect based on the number rolled!"
[Duke Devlin: 1700 → 700 LP]
Watching Duke Devlin toss another die, Yugi, who was outside the field, frowned. Tristan noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Yugi?"
"That Deck Duke Devlin is using seems to be a Gambling Deck," Yugi explained to Tristan. "While it carries significant risks, it's accompanied by enormous rewards, like a gambling game where it's either win or lose."
"Moreover, Duke Devlin's Gambling Deck seems to be a dice-focused type, similar to (Dungeon Dice Monsters). For him, who is skilled at using dice, he can probably easily control what numbers are rolled."
"Doesn't that mean he can activate any effect he wants? That's a bit like cheating!" Tristan looked worriedly at the field. Just then, the die Duke Devlin had tossed stopped, and sure enough, it was another six.
"When the result is 5 or 6, (Summon Dice)'s effect allows me to Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher monster from my hand!"
Duke Devlin said, drawing a card from his hand and summoning it. "Cruel ultimate warrior, vanquish this vile person before me!"
"(Archfiend Ogre)!"
A monster quite familiar to everyone present appeared on Duke Devlin's field: a muscular, robust body, sturdy full plate armor, and a greatsword in its hand. It was none other than (Archfiend Ogre), which had delivered the final blow to Joey in the previous (Dungeon Dice Monsters)!
[(Archfiend Ogre) Level 7 / Earth]
[Warrior-Type / Effect]
[ATK 2500 / DEF 2450]
"Most of the monsters in (Dungeon Dice Monsters) are made from Duel Monsters authorized by Mr. Pegasus. However, this (Archfiend Ogre) is the only original monster unique to (Dungeon Dice Monsters)," Duke Devlin said to Hayato, gazing at (Archfiend Ogre). "He is the embodiment of my rage! Face the ultimate power, vile Duel King!"
"Activate (Archfiend Ogre)'s effect! Roll three dice. This card's ATK/DEF increase by the sum of the rolled numbers x 100 until the end of the opponent's turn!"
Duke Devlin rolled three more dice, but it seemed that as the number of dice increased, he could no longer precisely control the die roll. This time, only one die showed six, while the other two showed two.
[(Archfiend Ogre) ATK 2500 → 3500]
"Then, from my hand, I activate the Spell card, (Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce)! By sending 1 card from my hand to the Graveyard, I equip this card to (Archfiend Ogre)!"
(Archfiend Ogre) grabbed its greatsword and tore it apart as if it were a loaf of bread, transforming it into two relatively smaller longswords. However, its ATK also decreased as a result.
[(Archfiend Ogre) ATK 3500 → 3000]
"Oh no, this is terrible!" Yugi recognized the card Duke Devlin had just activated. Even though he saw (Archfiend Ogre)'s ATK decrease, he shouted worriedly to Hayato, "Hayato, you absolutely must stop this attack!"
"Oh? As expected of the Duel King, your knowledge is far superior to that of my loyal dog." Duke Devlin's face revealed a smug smile. "While (Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce) reduces a monster's ATK, it also grants the equipped monster the ability to attack twice!"
"Go, (Archfiend Ogre)! Destroy (Gaia), then launch a direct attack on Hayato!"
(end of chapter)