Chapter 7: 2V2 (2)

"Hahahahaha!"

After a ten-second silence, Light and Dark Mask burst into laughter first, breaking the quiet.

"You, you! You're definitely a newbie, using such a weak card! Hahahaha!"

"Now you can't even perform an upper-level summon!"

You Tian's eyelid twitched slightly.

Fine, he had defeated YuE himself, altering the Original Plot—Jonouchi never sought out YuE, and thus never knew this card existed in his deck.

You Tian was willing to take 5% responsibility for this.

Jonouchi's face turned bright red, straining with frustration.

He instantly realized: such a disgusting creature could only be the Parasite Paracide.

It must have been that brat earlier, acting on YuE's orders, secretly slipping this weak card into my deck!

"You, you, what do you know? My cards aren't weak!"

Jonouchi stammered, stubbornly clinging to his words.

Then came a string of remarks: "There are no weak cards, only weak Duelists," prompting Light Mask to laugh heartily.

"Hmph! I'll Set one more card, then end my turn!"

Light Mask wiped away tears from laughing.

"Hah! Alright, it's my turn now!"

"I Summon【Four-Faced Beast Melchido】in Attack Position."

【Attack Power: 1500】

"I Set two cards, end my turn!"

"Your turn, black-haired kid!"

"Hahahaha, black-haired kid, you've got terrible luck—ended up with such an unreliable partner!"

"Forget synergy—this guy can't even meet basic Duelist standards. Why not just hand over Raya's card now? Otherwise, hehehe!"

At these words, Jonouchi instantly clenched his teeth in rage.

But he glanced at his field's Parasite Paracide, and the rebuttal he'd been about to shout died in his throat.

"Hmph! Gurus scum! Have you finished your last words?"

Unexpectedly, You Tian spoke up, halting Light and Dark Mask's mockery.

Light Mask: "What did you say?"

You Tian let out a soft snort.

"My turn—I Set one monster, and Set two cards."

Light Mask sneered in disdain.

"Tch, Defense~"

"Next, I activate this card: 【Hand Exchange】."

"As per its effect, I exchange one card with the opponent player."

Light and Dark Mask immediately frowned.

【Hand Exchange】was a card that could turn the tide—used well, it often let you trade your own weak cards for the opponent's powerful ones.

You Tian smiled. "The card I'm exchanging with is Jonouchi!"

"Nani!" ×3.

Upon hearing this, the other three—including Jonouchi—were stunned.

You Tian gave Jonouchi a slight smile, walked over, and extended his hand toward him.

"Jonouchi, pick one card from my hand!"

Jonouchi looked puzzled.

He knew【Hand Exchange】well—it existed in the Game too.

Jonouchi stared at the two cards in You Tian's hand, scratching his head.

"You Tian-kun, are you sure you want to exchange hands with me?"

Jonouchi asked, confirming.

You Tian only smiled. "Jonouchi will surely make good use of the cards in my hand."

Seeing You Tian's determined expression, Jonouchi was slightly moved. He looked again at the two cards.

Suddenly, Jonouchi's eyes lit up.

"I'll take this one!"

Seeing that Jonouchi understood his intent, You Tian nodded in satisfaction.

Then he selected one card from Jonouchi's hand and took it.

"I Set one more card, end my turn."

Watching the two, Light and Dark Mask exchanged uneasy glances, slipping into their team voice channel.

Dark: "Partner, these two are up to something strange."

Light: "Don't worry, partner. Jonouchi has【Parasite Paracide】on his field—he can't perform an upper-level summon anyway. We don't even need to activate that card."

Light: "Forget him for now. Let's eliminate the black-haired kid first."

Dark Mask nodded.

"My turn, Draw Phase!"

"I activate an Equip Magic Card from my hand: 【Ferocious Mask】."

"This card boosts my【Glorious Abyss】by 1000 Attack Power!"

【Attack Power: 2600】

Jonouchi: "What, the attack power actually jumped to 2600 in one go!"

Light Mask: "Oh, partner, this card has a nasty side effect — you have to pay 1000 Life Points every turn!"

Dark Mask smiled. "That was well within my expectations. I'll flip my set card — Continuous Spell 【Magical Mallet】. While this card is on the field, you don't need to pay Life Points to activate Magic Cards."

Light Mask: "Awesome! Partner!"

You Tian pursed his lips, watching the two of them play off each other.

Alright, alright, a half-decent 【Axe of Fools】, is it? A card-losing play this bad and you still think you can out-trick us?

Still, they're anime characters — losing cards is just basic operation for them.

I don't dare say it, I don't dare ask. What if the guy across pulls three 【Pot of Duality】 out of his pants? Where would any card disadvantage be then?

Dark Mask: "Next, I Summon 【Masked Sorcerer Cursed Throat】 in Attack Position."

【Attack Power: 1500】

"I use 【Glorious Abyss】 to attack the face-down monster on the black-haired kid's field. Go, 【Glorious Abyss】!"

Jonouchi glanced at You Tian with a hint of worry.

You Tian returned a confident smile.

"I flip my Trap Card — 【Itakuya's Storm】. This card can change the battle position of all face-up monsters on your opponent's field."

Dark Mask: "Tch! Nothing but petty tricks!"

Sure enough, every monster on Dark Mask's field flipped to Defense Position.

"I Set one more card, and end my turn."

You Tian: "Petty tricks? Then you two better be careful — don't get beaten by petty tricks later~"

Light Mask snorted coldly in disdain.

You Tian looked at Jonouchi: "Jonouchi-kun, go on. Use the ace card you got from me and give them a real taste of it!"

Light and Dark Mask frowned, exchanging a glance.

"An ace card? Don't tell me he gave that guy 【Relinquished】?"

"That can't be right — Katsuya Jonouchi's field has a Parasite on it, so he can't perform a Ritual Summon at all, right?"

Hearing You Tian's words, Jonouchi was stunned too. He looked at the card he'd traded from You Tian, then back at You Tian's utterly sincere face.

"Uh… alright."

"My turn — Draw Phase!"

"I activate this card from You Tian-kun — 【Forced Transfer】. Hey, Dark Mask, you need to swap control of one monster on each of our fields."

Dark Mask: "WTF?!"

You Tian, off to the side, picked up the cue at just the right moment.

"Oh! Jonouchi, you're going to trade your own powerful monster for one of his trash monsters?"

You Tian clicked his tongue and shook his head at 【Parasite Paracide】.

"Such a powerful monster — what a waste."

"Ah well, no choice — Dark Mask gets the bargain!"

Light and Dark Mask: …

Light and Dark Mask had been steeped in the Dark Duel world for years, and prided themselves on keeping a poker face even if Mount Tai crumbled before their eyes.

But today, the two of them felt that, facing that black-haired kid across from them, their fists had inexplicably hardened!