Chapter 311: About Forgetting Chapter Titles Daily
Driven by Kaiba's intense Duel Addiction, even though the warm-up activities were not yet complete, less than half an hour after the Top 8 to Top 4 matches concluded, the S.S. St. Ann's "Sky Duel Arena" had dramatically changed its appearance, preparing to determine the dueling order for the upcoming Top 4 duelists.
Of course, although the duels were currently underway, there was never a rule stating that the recorded duel footage had to be live-streamed immediately. Recording it now and broadcasting it at the scheduled time after the warm-up was complete, or even writing sensational headlines based on the final results in advance and manipulating gambling matches on the dark web for profit, was incredibly easy and utterly without challenge for Mokuba, who was in charge of all these matters.
After being used only four times, the 『Blue-Eyes White Dragon Lottery Machine GO! GO!』 was unceremoniously discarded by Kaiba and returned to the airship's storage room. It was foreseeable that Kaiba wouldn't bring it out again for a long time, perhaps even until it became unusable and had to be scrapped.
In a sense, as Kaiba himself said, he wasn't someone who held onto the past. It was just that his speed of 'embracing the new and discarding the old' was a bit too fast.
Hayato, Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey stood on four circular platforms in the center of the hall, facing each other. According to their advancement order into the Top 4, their clockwise positions were Kaiba → Joey → Hayato → Yugi.
Meanwhile, on the side of the hall, an elevator leading directly to the "Sky Duel Arena" outside the airship had appeared. Mokuba, Téa, Tristan, Serenity Wheeler, Mai Valentine, Ishizu, and others entered one by one, taking their reserved seats.
Croquet, acting as the judge, also took his designated seat and began to announce the rules for the upcoming duel.
"You four duelists who have advanced to the Top 4 of Battle City, what awaits you next is a Seeding Match to determine the pairings for the Semi-finals." Croquet, who had popped a few mints in the past half-hour to soothe his throat, now spoke with a booming voice. Without a loudspeaker, his voice clearly reached everyone present. "The rule applied in this duel is a four-person free-for-all!"
"Each duelist's Life Points will be tied to the platform beneath their feet. In the upcoming match, as each duelist's Life Points decrease, their platform will automatically rise a corresponding height. The first two duelists to reach the 'Sky Duel Arena' will form one duel pairing, while the remaining two will form the other."
"Additionally, it's important to note that while these are called 'elevating platforms,' platforms that rise due to Life Points being deducted will not descend if Life Points are gained. Furthermore, Life Points voluntarily paid will also be considered deductions."
Listening to Croquet's explanation, Joey scratched the back of his head in confusion, looking at Yugi, who stood opposite him: "I don't really get the gist of it, but basically, I just need to keep my Life Points close to the opponent I want to duel, right?"
"It looks like you've already decided on the opponent you want to duel, Joey?" Hayato said with a smile, standing to Joey's left.
Due to Hayato's participation, the Top 4 lineup for Battle City no longer matched the plot progression Hayato knew. However, having experienced transmigration for so long, Hayato no longer held any idea of 'respecting the original story.' On the contrary, he was quite pleased to be able to alter the original plot. At the very least, the famous scene of 'Joey's death' would likely not occur.
Hearing this, Joey glanced at Kaiba, who stood to his right, his eyes filled with fighting spirit: "I've been looking forward to a chance to go up against Kaiba for a long time. His arrogant face makes me angry time and again. Now that I finally have a chance to teach him a lesson, I don't want to miss it."
"Hmph, a mediocre duelist who doesn't know his place." Kaiba sneered, merely glancing at Joey. "Just a mere Common Bone, what right do you have to challenge my invincible 『Blue-Eyes』? From the start, you were never on my list of anticipated opponents."
He turned his gaze to Hayato opposite him and Yugi to his right: "『The Winged Dragon of Ra』, 『Slifer the Sky Dragon』, and my 『Obelisk the Tormentor』— the King of Games will only be decided among the three of us, and the victor will claim all three Egyptian God Cards."
Even though he had achieved the qualification of a Top 4 duelist, on par with Kaiba, the latter still maintained such an arrogant attitude, completely disregarding him. This utterly infuriated Joey: "Just you watch, Kaiba. Don't let this mere Common Bone crack your teeth."
Yugi and Hayato exchanged glances, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. Compared to Joey, neither of them had strong preferences for who their next duel opponent would be.
The aura among the four duelists was quite intense. Croquet looked at Mokuba, who was seated in the elevator, and after receiving the Vice President's nod of approval, he began to speak:
"Next, please all duelists present one Monster Card face-down as a token to determine the order of play. The user of the Monster with the highest ATK will gain first turn priority, and the remaining duelists will duel in a clockwise order."
"However, any Monster Card revealed here cannot be used in the subsequent duel."
Hearing Croquet's words, the four quickly selected the cards they would reveal, placed them on the Duel Disks that had expanded in advance, and then flipped them over simultaneously.
On Kaiba's Field was the entire sparkling diamond-bodied 『Diamond Dragon』, with an ATK of 2100 points.
Joey's monster was a mutated Green Giant that looked like it had been doused in purple dye—I mean, the 『Maximum Six』, with an ATK of 1900 points, slightly inferior to 『Diamond Dragon』.
Hayato had no intention of seizing the first turn. The monster that appeared on his Field was the 『Skull Stalker』, with an ATK of only 900 points. Out of bonds with an old friend who had accompanied him since the start of his transmigration, Hayato always kept its card tucked into his spare deck at his waist.
What surprised Hayato was that the monster that appeared on Yugi's Field after him was the 『Dark Knight Gaia』. Its 2300 ATK perfectly exceeded Kaiba's 『Diamond Dragon』 by 200 points, thereby securing the first turn privilege.
Thus, the duel order was decided. Croquet announced: "Now, the order of duels will be Yugi, Seto, Joey, and Hayato. I declare that the Battle City Top 4 duelists' Semi-finals Seeding Match now begins!"
"Duel!" X4
[Yugi: 4000 LP]
[Kaiba: 4000 LP]
[Joey: 4000 LP]
[Hayato: 4000 LP]
"My turn, draw!" In the blink of an eye, Yami Yugi, who had instantly taken Yugi Muto's place, drew a card from his Deck. After a quick glance, he added it to his hand, then surveyed the other three.
Although he didn't have any strong preferences for his next opponent, Yami Yugi knew he had to collect all the Egyptian God Cards to recover his memory. There would theoretically be a maximum of two more duels, meaning Yugi's opponents should ideally be Hayato and Kaiba. Therefore, although it was somewhat regrettable for Joey, Yugi's provisional target would be him. By eliminating Joey first, he could then focus on defeating either Hayato or Kaiba, and then be grouped with the other.
"I Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position, then I Set three cards, End Turn."
In this four-person free-for-all, the first three players to act would not be able to enter the Battle Phase. Only when the fourth turn came around, which was Hayato's turn to Yugi's right, would he be able to enter the Battle Phase and initiate an attack on others.
[Yugi: 4000 LP, Hand: 2]
[Face-down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Cards] X3
"Hmph, choosing a defensive strategy before your Battle Phase arrives, Yugi? My turn!" The characteristic cold snort indicated it was Kaiba. After drawing a card from his Deck, he immediately activated it on the Field: "Draw, then I Summon 『Dark Clown Zaki』 in Attack Position."
On Kaiba's Field, a clown-dressed Spellcaster-Type monster appeared. Its 600 ATK was quite weak. For Kaiba's Deck, which adhered to the 'Aggressive Play is Truth' motto, the appearance of a monster with less than 1500 ATK was abnormal in itself. Furthermore, Kaiba had directly Summoned it in Attack Position on the Field, clearly signaling to everyone that he was about to use a Trap Card.
[『Dark Clown Zaki』][Level 3/DARK Attribute]
[Spellcaster-Type/Normal Monster]
[600/1500]
"I Set two cards, My turn ends." After Setting two cards, Kaiba swiftly ended his turn as well.
However, even though the cards were Set, Hayato could swear on the soul of Light Marik, who slumbered within the Millennium Ring, that if those two Set cards weren't 『Crush Card Virus』, Marik would commit suicide by eating feces right then and there.
Even Yugi had a helpless expression, evidently having guessed Kaiba's strategy as well. Couldn't Kaiba come up with something new? He kept using the same trick over and over. After this broadcast, wouldn't every duelist in the world know what Kaiba's Set cards were?
Then, the duelist of unpredictability, No. 1 — Joey — began his turn.
"Kaiba actually Set cards just like Yugi, too. What kind of cards could they be?" Joey, the only one among those present who hadn't figured out what Kaiba's Set cards were, had a conflicted expression as he drew a card. "Anyway, I'll just Summon a powerful monster."
"I Activate the Spell Card 『Polymerization』! I use 『Summoned Skull』 and 『Red-Eyes Black Dragon』 from my hand as Fusion Material!" Playing two cards from his hand, Joey, on his very first turn, managed to gather both cards in his hand. "Come forth, 『Black Skull Dragon』!"
Black flame and dark lightning converged into a massive vortex, and the 『Black Skull Dragon』 that Joey had previously used to defeat Mai Valentine manifested on the Field!
[『Black Skull Dragon』][ATK3200]
(end of chapter)