Chapter 312: Fuck you, Noah!
The towering (Black Skull Dragon) stood behind Joey, a smile on his face, clearly pleased that he had managed to Summon the powerful (Black Skull Dragon) on the very first turn.
"Although Fusion Summoning doesn't use up the Normal Summon," Joey muttered to himself, glancing at his hand, "I don't have any more Monster Cards in my hand." He then drew two cards. "Then, I'll Set two cards and end my turn."
[Joey: 4000 Life Points, 1 card in hand]
(Black Skull Dragon) [ATK 3200]
[Set Card] x2
"Then, it's my turn." Chumley's face wore a satisfied smile as he drew a card from his Deck. He was in a great mood, and if you asked why, it was naturally because of the excellent hand he held.
The (Harpie's Feather Duster) won from Mai Valentine, (Exchange of the Spirit) obtained from Ishizu, the card-drawing god-tier (Graceful Charity), the Forbidden/Limited List Regular (Makyura the Destructor), the king of milling (That Grass Looks Greener), and the recently drawn (Red Reboot).
After receiving the gift of (Exchange of the Spirit) from Ishizu, Chumley had built an FTK Deck centered around that card. It was as if even the Goddess of Fate had heard Chumley's inner expectations, as he obtained all the Key Cards on his first turn. As long as his combo wasn't interrupted, Chumley could easily achieve an FTK.
His Deck this time was a 60-card build packed with various card draw and stall cards. Although he wouldn't need the stall cards due to his exceptional luck, it didn't mean the additional cards in the Deck would be useless.
Next, Chumley only needed to use (That Grass Looks Greener) from his hand, which allows him to send cards from the top of his Deck to the Graveyard until the number of cards in his Deck is the same as his opponent's, to Mill a large number of cards at once. Then, using (Graceful Charity) to send (Makyura the Destructor) to the Graveyard to trigger its "activate Trap Cards from hand" effect, he could then directly activate (Exchange of the Spirit), as its activation conditions would be met, to reverse the Decks and Graveyards of all four Duelists.
During this process, the only thing that could possibly interrupt Chumley was the unknown Set Cards on the back row of the other three Duelists.
Joey's Set Cards were likely dice cards that raised or lowered ATK; one of Kaiba's Set Cards was definitely (Crush Card Virus), and the other was probably a card used for stylishly Summoning his wife – (_Blue-Eyes White Dragon_).
The most concerning, however, was Yugi. He had a total of three Set Cards in his back row. If any disruptive cards like (Seven Tools of the Bandit) were activated, Chumley would be quite annoyed if his Combo was interrupted.
"Therefore, to prevent any unpleasant situations later," Chumley said, playing a card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card, (Harpie's Feather Duster)!"
"That's Mai's card?" Joey asked, a little surprised by the appearance of (Harpie's Feather Duster). He had always thought only Mai Valentine had this card. Did Chumley have one too? Belatedly, he suddenly remembered the effect of (Harpie's Feather Duster). Its effect... seemed to be to destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the opponent's field?
Even in a one-on-one duel, (Harpie's Feather Duster)'s effect of destroying all of the opponent's Spell and Trap Cards on the field is quite powerful. Let alone in a four-way free-for-all like this, where the other three were all considered Chumley's "opponents". The Set Cards in Yugi's, Kaiba's, and Joey's back rows were all targeted by (Harpie's Feather Duster)!
"Oh no, my Set Card!"
Joey nervously looked at the Set Cards in his back row. Although (Black Skull Dragon)'s ATK was among the strongest in his Deck, it was ultimately a monster without any resistance. To prevent it from being destroyed without achieving anything, Joey had specifically prepared (*Metalmorph*) in his back row.
However, this card (*Metalmorph*) was about to be destroyed.
Kaiba also frowned unhappily. The two Set Cards in his back row were (Crush Card Virus) and (Sakuretsu Armor), which prevented direct attacks when his field was empty. Regarding the activation of (Harpie's Feather Duster), he could only stare helplessly.
A giant feather broom appeared on the field, whipping up a gale that swept towards the cards in the other three Duelists' back rows. Chumley said, "The greatest advantage of going first is undoubtedly the Trap Cards you've pre-set in your back rows. If I want to develop my strategy, I have to clear away these bothersome Trap Cards."
As expected, Yugi, who wouldn't stand by and watch his back row's Set Cards be destroyed, activated one of his Set Cards: "I won't let you destroy them! I activate the Set Trap Card, (Magic Jammer)! When a Spell Card is activated, discard one card from your hand to negate the Spell Card's activation and destroy it!"
The whirlwind was just about to reveal and destroy the Set Cards in the three Duelists' back rows. As Yugi paid the cost of discarding a card from his hand to activate (Magic Jammer), a large hexagram magic circle appeared over their back rows, containing the raging hurricane within the circle and isolating it from external influence.
Seeing that his back row cards were safe, Joey let out a sigh of relief, while Kaiba maintained his icy expression.
But seeing (Harpie's Feather Duster) being blocked by Yugi, Chumley chuckled. "As expected, you kept a counter card, Yugi. But unfortunately, your counter was completely within my predictions."
"Chaining to the activation of (Magic Jammer), I pay half of my Life Points and activate the Counter Trap Card (Red Reboot) from my hand!"
Joey exclaimed in surprise, "A Counter Trap Card that can be activated directly from the hand?!"
Yugi was also slightly surprised. "I remember that card. Chumley used it when he dueled Miss Ishizu. Its effect..."
"It negates a Trap Card's activation and sets it, and can even let you select another Trap Card from your Deck and set it on the field," Kaiba stated with a frown. "The Cost is half your Life Points. You're just throwing away half your Life Points so casually?"
A red button appeared in Chumley's hand. As he bent his thumb and pressed the button, the (Magic Jammer) Yugi activated to block (Harpie's Feather Duster) became like a TV channel with poor signal, erupting with static. The hexagram magic circle quickly dissipated, and the gale, now unhindered, successfully destroyed all Spell and Trap Cards on the field, including the (Magic Jammer) that Yugi had reset and another newly Set Trap Card.
As the back rows of the other three were cleared, Chumley, whose Life Points had dropped to half, had his rising platform ascend to about halfway up, becoming the first among the four to leave the ground.
[Chumley: 4000 → 2000 Life Points]
"With that, the troublesome elements are gone," Chumley said with satisfaction, looking at the back rows of the others. He played a card from his hand. "I activate the effect of the Spell Card (That Grass Looks Greener). This card can only be activated if the number of cards in my Deck is greater than my opponent's."
"The total number of cards in my Deck this time is the maximum of 60; currently, it's 54 cards, which is more than Yugi's 33 cards, the lowest count among you."
Although Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey hadn't used any card draw cards yet, due to Chumley's recently used (Red Reboot), Yugi's Deck was one card fewer than theirs.
As he spoke, Chumley reached out and boldly grabbed the thick stack of cards that automatically popped up from the top of his Deck – twenty-one cards, no more, no less – and tossed them into the Graveyard.
"Until the number of cards in my Deck equals the opponent's, I'll send cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard. I'm directly milling my entire Deck!"
"Then, I activate (Graceful Charity), drawing three cards from my Deck and discarding two from my hand."
After Chumley's series of moves, it wasn't just Kaiba and Yugi; even Joey realized that Chumley seemed to be holding back some ultimate move.
"A large number of cards have been sent to the Graveyard by Chumley. Is he going to use (Magicalized Fusion) or (Dragon's Mirror) to Summon (*Quintet Magician*) and (Five-Headed Dragon)?"
"So many cards sent to the Graveyard, over twenty already? I really can't understand what he's trying to do."
Kaiba's and Joey's voices reached Yugi's ears. Upon hearing Joey mention that Chumley's Graveyard already contained "over twenty" cards, Yugi's eyes suddenly widened, and he quickly looked at the two cards Chumley was about to send to the Graveyard.
The card (Makyura the Destructor) caught Yugi's eye.
"As expected, Chumley, that's the card you're going to use, isn't it?" Only now did Yugi finally see through Chumley's strategy. But unfortunately, it was too late. With only one monster in Face-down Position on the field, Yugi could do nothing.
"You've figured it out? As expected of Yugi. That's right, this is the card I'm going to use." Chumley said with a triumphant smile, revealing the (Exchange of the Spirit) card. "The effect of (Exchange of the Spirit) is: when there are 15 or more cards in my Graveyard, it reverses the Deck and Graveyard of all Duelists, swapping the cards in those two zones."
"Because (Makyura the Destructor) was sent to the Graveyard, I can activate a Trap Card from my hand once per turn!"
"Activate, [Exch—"
The card in his hand had barely been raised and placed on the Duel Disk when the lights in the Airship hall suddenly went out. A strong vibration came from beneath Chumley's feet, and he quickly grabbed the railing to steady himself.
The images of the Monster cards flickered and vanished. As the Airship tilted, Chumley suddenly remembered something and gritted his teeth, saying, "Noah, fuck you!"
(end of chapter)