Chapter 111: Only People Who Don’t Shuffle Can Use This

"Black Dragon's Chick? Wait, could this be...?!"

Across the arena, the three prisoners trapped inside the distant orb of light, Chumley among them, saw the dragon egg monster Darkness had just summoned and immediately understood what it meant.

"That's right. That's the hatchling of Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Darkness raised the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card that had just returned to his hand, pointing toward the crimson, cracking egg sitting on the field before him.

"The special effect of Black Dragon's Chick! By sending this hatchling on my field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Red-Eyes Black Dragon straight from my hand!"

"Roooaar!!"

The moment his words fell, the crimson egg across the field shimmered faintly, and a small black, red-eyed dragon broke free of its shell. It swelled rapidly, reshaping itself back into the familiar form of Red-Eyes Black Dragon, letting out a vicious roar.

"So there really are people out there who run Black Dragon's Chick..." Rowan's expression twisted slightly as he studied the newly hatched Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

Sure, in theory you could send it straight to the Graveyard and Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from your hand in the same turn. But if you didn't happen to already have a Red-Eyes Black Dragon sitting in your hand when you drew it, Black Dragon's Chick was nothing more than a pathetic 800 attack point trash monster.

As far as Rowan was concerned, unless a duelist had built up an almost supernatural bond with their deck, the kind of ridiculous, never-brick luck that let a hotblooded idiot like Jaden always draw exactly the card he needed, nobody could actually make a card like this work.

"We're far from finished! My Red-Eyes Black Dragon is going to keep evolving, all the way to its ultimate form!"

On the far side of the field, Darkness plucked another card from his hand between two fingers and raised it high.

"I Tribute Red-Eyes Black Dragon, sending it to the Graveyard, and Special Summon its next evolved form straight from my hand! Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

"Come forth, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

"Roooaar!!"

As a dark red glow lit up the card in Darkness's raised hand, a column of orange, molten flame surged up once more around the Red-Eyes Black Dragon standing on his field. In an instant, bathed in that blazing pillar of magma, the dragon transformed midair into something that looked like a fire drake wreathed head to tail in burning lava.

As the flames slowly guttered out, drawn inward and absorbed by the true monster taking shape beneath them, a new dragon emerged: its whole body a deep, glistening black, a pair of blade-like dark wings unfurled behind it, its onyx scales threaded through with veins and crystals of molten orange.

It let out a single roar, then descended slowly onto the field before Darkness, far across from Rowan.

Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon Level: 9 Attribute: DARK ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000

"So this is Red-Eyes Black Dragon's next evolution, and its attack is still stuck at the same 2400?" Syrus couldn't help but voice his confusion at the sight.

"Heh. That's the special effect of Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon. For every Dragon-Type monster sitting in my Graveyard, its attack rises by 300 points!"

Hearing the perfectly timed confusion from the other side, Darkness finally found his chance to show off, letting out a satisfied little snort.

"Nani?!"

At that, Alexis and Jaden's group all stiffened at once.

"Right now there are two Troop Dragons in his Graveyard, one Black Dragon's Chick, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon itself. That's four Dragon-Type monsters!"

"Which means Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon's attack should climb by 1200, bringing it to 3600!"

Even as she worked through the math, the attack value displayed on Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon across the field began ticking steadily upward, right until it hit 3300, then abruptly stopped.

"Why did it stop at only 3300?" Alexis and the others blurted out, baffled.

Even Rowan found himself puzzled for a moment, glancing past Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon toward the man standing behind it.

"Because I already activated this Spell Card from my hand... Monster Reborn!"

Across the field, Darkness slowly turned over the last card left in his hand and revealed it. It bore a distinctive sigil, unmistakably the well-known Spell that could revive a monster straight from the Graveyard.

Rowan felt a comment bubbling up that he just had to make.

Oh, so that's how it is. Sneaking a Spell activation in on the side, were you?

"Rise again, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

"Roooaar!!"

As his words fell, an orange glow burst out at once from the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, settling onto the field before him and taking shape once more as Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"He's summoned both the stronger 3300 attack Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon and the original 2400 attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon, all in the same turn!"

Jaden and the others' faces turned grim at once.

Rowan currently had nothing set on his field. His Tribe-Infecting Virus, which could target Dragon-Type monsters, and his Skilled White Magician, standing in attack position, were both clearly about to be wiped out in a single stroke.

"Savor the power of hellfire, under the rules of a Shadow Duel!"

The next moment, Darkness raised his hand, signaling both dragons to attack.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon, attack Tribe-Infecting Virus! Dark Metal Flame!"

"Roooaar!!"

Red-Eyes Black Dragon let out a roar and opened its jaws, unleashing a stream of crimson-black hellfire that tore across the field straight into the purple, fish-headed monster crouched in defense before Rowan. With a single deafening blast, it exploded into a cloud of fire and smoke and was gone.

"Next, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack Skilled White Magician! Gigaton Dark Flame!"

"Roooaar!!"

Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, its onyx body veined through with orange crystal, shot up into the air at Darkness's command, roaring as its jaws split open and unleashed a massive beam of crimson flame.

The blast surged toward Skilled White Magician, and its sheer scale swallowed Rowan up in its path as well.

Even before it touched him, Rowan could already feel the searing heat radiating off it from a distance.