Who Let Him Play Yugioh? (Re-Upload)

"I send all three copies of the Continuous Trap 'Delta Barrier' to the Graveyard!"

Kira raised his card high.

"The furnace of eternity roars, infernos of the abyss burn through heaven and earth, sounding the requiem of the Sacred Beast! Awaken—

—Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!!!"

The altar's dome was dyed blood-red. All the projections began shaking violently. The three continuous traps twisted into spiral columns of fire, converging into a boiling vortex of lava at the center of the field.

Burning claws split the magma apart. Flowing lava and obsidian formed the body of a divine dragon. The scarlet dragon covered in scales seemed to break free from hell itself. The earth shattered, the dragon's head burst through the fiery veil, and its dark red body was veined with glowing magma as hellfire burned in its pupils.

Upon Uria's descent, a rain of lava—like thousands of fiery meteors—blasted the earth. Fiery wings unfurled, each beat sowing new waves of explosions.

[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK ?]

"Sacred Beast..."

Even Yusei's Dragon Mark seemed to sense the threat, stinging like a warning.

"This pressure… it's totally on par with the Earthbound Immortal…"

Yusei remembered that glimpse of Goodwin's ace during a duel with Greiger, a Dark Signer.

That evil god—the pressure from that was no less than what he felt from the Sacred Beast now. Maybe even stronger.

Just how many secrets did this man still hide?

The more they learned, the more they realized—Goodwin's true power was just the tip of the iceberg.

Kira: "Uria's attack points depend on the number of trap cards in my graveyard. There are three copies of 'Delta Barrier' now—each one gives Uria 1000 attack points!"

[Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, ATK ? → ATK 3000]

Crow: "He shot straight up to 3000 attack!?"

Kira: "Uria's effect activates!

Once per turn, destroy all of your opponent's face-up and set Trap Cards!

Traps—be destroyed!"

Uria roared, sound waves blasting toward Crow's set card.

Crow: "My trap isn't afraid! I activate the set card—Trap Card 'Blackboost'!

If I have at least two 'Blackwing' monsters on my field, I draw two cards." (Anime effect.)

Kira raised an eyebrow.

Blackboost had a real card, but the printed version was terribly nerfed: you needed to banish two Blackwing tuners to draw two cards—a bad trade. The anime version was way stronger.

"I have 'Blackwing - Armor Master' and 'Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn'—so I draw two cards!"

Crow drew twice.

Kira didn't mind. Extra draws or not, Crow had lost his back row for now.

"Next, I activate the Field Spell 'Fallen Paradise'!"

The sky ripped open with gashes like wounds, from which rusted bronze chains descended. Pitch-black trees shot up, trunks covered with sinister green eyes.

Fallen Paradise is the strongest Sacred Beast field spell, letting the controller draw two additional cards each turn. The real card even adds powerful resistances—your Sacred Beasts can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects.

The original anime version didn't have those protections, but the Sacred Beasts already came with built-in resistances anyway.

"Fallen Paradise lets me draw two cards once per turn if a Sacred Beast's on my field.

Since I have Uria, I draw two cards."

"Now for battle—'Uria, Lord of Searing Flames', attack 'Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn'!

Super Blazing Wave!"

Uria's jaws opened, the air distorting from heat, his throat glowing with bright red.

Lava exploded from the dragon's neck, erupting like a fountain, as a burning spiral torrent blasted from its mouth. In a flash like the birth of a supernova, the Blackwing warrior dissolved, starting from his hand, into golden dust.

"Waaah!"

[Crow/Jack/Yusei, LP 12000 → LP 11000]

Team battle damage spread equally to all three, the savage flames scorching their nerves, as if their souls themselves were burning.

"So this is the kind of damage from a Dark Duel..."

In the original, Crow fought Greiger, a Dark Signer, but Kira defeated Greiger—so this was Crow's first experience with true pain in a duel.

"Real pain from a Dark Duel... Goodwin... Are you serious…"

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! community, Yusei is known for his obsession with bonds and his companions. It's his source of power. More than anyone, he's already regarded Goodwin as a comrade.

All the more reason, then, he refused to believe that Goodwin's earlier camaraderie was just an act, and that he had merely used them all to pursue the power of the Evil God.

"Indeed. This is no ordinary match—this is a Dark Duel, with your lives and the fate of the world on the line.

Did you forget? If I win, the gates of the underworld will open. I'll gain the power of the Lord of the Netherworld—and conquer this dimension!"

...Kira was just making that up. There was no actual "gate to the underworld," and nobody would die no matter who lost.

As for the real pain from the Dark Duel…

It was all just part of the performance, to make things more believable.

"If you don't want to die, or let the world be destroyed, then show me some real strength!"

He set a card face-down and ended his turn.

Jack: "Don't get cocky, Goodwin! Whether you were faking it or scheming all along, I just need enough power to crush you!"

Kira actually didn't disagree with Jack's philosophy.

"Well, as long as you really do have the power."

Kira smiled quietly to himself.

"So—do you have that power, Jack Atlas?"

Jack: "When the opponent controls a monster and my field is empty, I can Special Summon 'Vice Dragon' from my hand!"

[Vice Dragon, ATK 2000]

Kira: "...?"

He was about to point out that there was still 'Blackwing - Armor Master' on the field, clearly a monster…

But then he remembered team duel rules were different from his previous life—each player's field operates independently.

Just like in the famous Paradox vs. the three protagonists match, even during a teammate's turn, only your own monsters and backrow could be used; the active player couldn't use a teammate's cards at will.

So, "an empty field" meant "I don't control monsters," ignoring what my teammates have. Monster and backrow can each defend their owners, but teammates can't give orders to each other's cards.

"Eh, the details don't matter."

Kira shrugged and laughed.

"Well then, show me your Tamashii."

…