Chapter 51

"You won't get away with it!" Seeing Slifer the Sky Dragon once again gathering divine flame cannonfire, You Tian rallied his spirits.

"I activate my face-down Trap Card!"

Malik: "Useless! You Tian, I told you—Trap Cards have no effect on gods. Ra's attack continues!"

You Tian: "Sōruiwadukana!"

"I flip my Trap Card—【Conscription Order】!"

"This card lets me reveal the top card of my deck; if it's a monster that can be Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon it to the field!"

Malik: "What!"

Game: "【Conscription Order】? Indeed, this card's effect isn't directed at a god. But whether 【Conscription Order】 can summon a Barrier Monster still depends on luck."

Jonouchi: "You Tian, you bastard! At such a crucial moment, you're leaving life and death to luck…"

Everyone glanced sideways.

Huh? Is Jonouchi the gambler criticizing You Tian's gambling mindset??

Unexpectedly, Jonouchi suddenly raised both hands, wearing an absurdly exaggerated expression.

"No wonder you're my friend, Jonouchi the Great! So bold! Go for it, You Tian!"

Everyone: …

"Hmph! You think you'll definitely draw a Barrier Monster, You Tian?" Malik sneered.

You Tian merely smiled faintly.

"Malik, you just don't understand, do you?"

"There's a real bond between a Duelist and their deck."

"As long as I believe in your deck, your deck will respond to me!"

Game:???

Believe in the opponent's deck, and the deck will respond to you?

Why does this sound so familiar, yet somehow… wrong?

A question mark appeared above Malik's head.

Wait, this is my deck—why are you believing in it?

"Come on, Malik!" You Tian stared confidently at Malik.

"Let you see the bond between me and your deck!"

Everyone:??? You and someone else's deck have a bond? Is that even right?

As 【Conscription Order】 resolved, the top card of Malik's deck was slowly revealed.

You Tian: I've already made my bluff—don't let me down! Give me a summonable monster!

The card flipped over—it was unmistakably a monster card: 【Crossbow Bowman】!

"Yes!" Jonouchi cried out joyfully.

Seeing the card, You Tian's smile widened. Everyone else exhaled in relief.

Malik: …

Malik felt terrible—he felt his own deck had betrayed him.

This 【Crossbow Bowman】 was the first monster he summoned in this Duel. His deck contained only one 【Crossbow Bowman】.

In his previous turn, Malik used 【Greedy Pot】 to return five monsters from his Graveyard to his deck—this one was among them.

And yet, at such a critical moment, he drew it?

It was bad enough that You Tian, the guy who kept pulling Niu Tounren tricks, was annoying—but now his own cards were helping him?

"Ah~ Malik, this is how a Duelist is."

Watching Malik's grim expression, You Tian began his unique "psychological counseling."

"To survive a Duel, your deck must carry some green."

Everyone: …

Malik's eyelid twitched.

"All talk and no substance. My attack isn't over yet!"

"Ra! Attack his 【Crossbow Bowman】!"

Boom! The 【Crossbow Bowman】, barely on You Tian's field, shattered into the Graveyard.

But now, Malik's attack phase was over. You Tian had once again survived a turn.

"Hmph! I set one card face-down—【Fusion Copy】."

"【Effect: This card's name can only be activated once per turn. You can target 1 'Fusion' Normal or Quick-Play Spell Card in your or your opponent's Graveyard; banish that card, and apply its activation effect."

"I banish 【Fusion Release】 from my Graveyard to once again detach myself from Ra."

Whoosh~

Once again, Malik returned to his original form.

【Malik LP: 1→6600】

"I set one more card. End my turn."

Finally, it was You Tian's turn again.

The strong wind from high above swept across the Airship's Duel Stage. The weary boy exhaled slowly and placed his hand gently on the Duel Disk.

This is the final turn!

The two Spell Cards I've recovered aren't enough to seize victory!

To defeat Malik, I must…

Please, respond to me—my deck!

"My turn, draw!"

As he drew, You Tian suddenly opened his eyes.

"From my hand, I activate this card, 【Desire's Urn】, to draw two cards."

You Tian's hand +1

Seeing the cards drawn, You Tian's lips curled into a faint smile.

"Malik, you've lost this Duel!"

"One of the two cards I just drew is a 【Double Magic】!"

"This card allows me to use the effect of a Magic Card twice!"

Hearing this, Malik gave a faint sneer.

"You Tian, don't think I don't know what you're planning. Aren't you trying to activate 【Monster Reborn】 from last turn, combine it with 【Double Magic】, and use the effect of my 【Surviving Treasure】 to make me draw out my entire Deck and lose?"

Seto Kaiba and Game frowned slightly. That Malik guy… he saw through this move too?

"Do you think, after my main personality was defeated by Game in this very way, I'd repeat his mistake?"

You Tian raised an eyebrow.

"Too naive, You Tian! I activate this face-down card, 【Very Food】!"

"This card lets me send one Magic or Trap on my field to the Graveyard to recover 1000 Life Points."

"The card I'm sending to the Graveyard? 【Surviving Treasure】!"

As he spoke, 【Surviving Treasure】 was sent to the Graveyard.

【Malik LP: 6600→7600】

Seto Kaiba: Damn it, Malik's Deck had only seven cards left after 【Conscription】 summoned that weak monster—but now 【Surviving Treasure】 is in the Graveyard, so there's no way to drain his Deck!

Game: And now Malik has 7600 Life Points, plus two barrier monsters on the field: 【Despair from the Shadows】 and 【Girgash】.

Seeing this, both of them wore expressions of helplessness.

Malik: "Ahahaha! You're out of options now, You Tian!"

To prevent another Deck-draw disaster, I specifically added 【Desire's Urn】 and 【Very Food】.

You'll never succeed in draining my Deck again!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Suddenly, applause rang out on the stage.

"Malik, it seems you've learned from your mistakes."

"Yes, draining the Deck was my strategy."

"But unfortunately, 【Monster Reborn】 was only a backup plan I retrieved for safety."

"My real trump card is this!"

Saying this, You Tian revealed another card from his hand.

"【Double Magic】?" Malik raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, this card is the second Magic Card recovered by 【Divine Magic Master】 alongside 【Day and Night】."

"Wait—when did you send this card to the Graveyard?" Malik frowned, straining to recall every move since the Duel began.

Unconsciously, his gaze shifted to Seto Kaiba below.

Seto Kaiba glared back at Malik, then shot a sharp look at Jonouchi, who had quietly approached.

"There was one opportunity—only one—where I could send 【Double Magic】 to the Graveyard."

You Tian held up one finger and teased Malik with a slight smirk.

"The 【Hand Destruction】 I activated at the start!!" Malik suddenly realized.

"Bingo! Congratulations, you got it right," You Tian smiled.

"You plan to copy 【Monster Reborn】 from the Graveyard using 【Double Magic】, then activate another 【Monster Reborn】 yourself, and finally use 【Double Magic】 again to activate 【Monster Reborn】 a third time?"

That way, I'll draw nine cards from 【Surviving Treasure】 and lose.

"Hmph~" Malik sneered again.

"Clever idea, You Tian—but now I have no 【Surviving Treasure】 on the field. Draining my Deck is impossible!"

"Your only chance now is to use the three monsters revived from the Graveyard to reduce my Life Points to zero this turn!"

"But your 【Masked Beast Death Guardian】 was banished by Game, and my 【Lava Golem】 was already returned by 【Desire's Urn】. There's not a single monster in your Graveyard that can defeat my 【Despair from the Shadows】..."

"Unless… you're trying to revive Ra?"

At this, Malik laughed even more wildly.

"Himmm hahahaha! Too bad! To activate Ra's effect, you must chant the ancient priest script on the card—just like I did just now."

Malik pointed at You Tian.

"And you? You can't possibly know it!"

"So, you've lost this Duel!"

Hearing this, the audience below shook their heads slightly.

"Ah~ Malik, you've learned from your mistake—but you still haven't learned to adapt."

"Then watch closely—how I'll drain your Deck this turn!"

Game: "What?! You Tian still plans to drain Malik's Deck?"

You Tian said no more and began his move.

"I discard 【Monster Reborn】 from my hand to activate 【Double Magic】."

Everyone: "What?! Discard 【Monster Reborn】?"

Malik: "What the hell are you planning, you bastard?"

"Watch closely! The effect of 【Double Magic】 activates—this card allows me to use one of your Magic Cards from your Graveyard."

"And the one I'm using is the 【Hand Destruction】 you activated at the start!"

Everyone:???

"Wait, You Tian, Malik only has one card in his hand! Even after activating 【Hand Destruction】, he could only discard just one card from his deck!" Jonouchi cried anxiously.

You Tian gave him a reassuring gesture.

"It's not over yet—right now, I chain the 【Continuous Magic】 in my hand. According to its effect, I discard all my cards and activate 【Double Magic】's effect again."

"And this time, the other card I'm copying is your very first activated card—【Treasure from the Heavens】!"

Malik: "Masa ka!"

"That's right—you figured it out! 【Treasure from the Heavens】 makes you draw five cards, and 【Hand Destruction】 makes you draw six."

"But your deck…" You Tian pointed at Malik's Duel Disk.

"Only seven cards left! You can't draw any more from your Duel Disk—so you've lost, Malik!"

Malik: "Th-this can't be!"