Yu-Gi-Oh!: This is the real duel!

Considering that Yuzuru only had one card in his hand to discard when he activated Armed Dragon's effect this turn, and looking at Yuzuru's confident expression, Dark Marik felt that everything was making sense.

The reason Yu Che is still so confident is because he sent that monster called "Shield Warrior" to the graveyard beforehand!

Once I unleash Ra's Winged Dragon on an attack, he will banish Shield Warrior from the graveyard. Even if I have a way to negate Armed Dragon's effect of not being destroyed in battle, he can still protect Armed Dragon. In the end, with the attack power evenly matched, the only monster destroyed will be the God Card that I summoned with great difficulty!

Although Ra Winged Dragon becomes more powerful after entering the graveyard, the means to revive God cards are extremely limited as card resources gradually dwindle. It would be too much of a loss to waste a chance to revive a God just for a three-star monster.

After hesitating for a long time, Dark Malik suddenly revealed a cold smile.

Having seen through everything, he decided to use the Winged Dragon of Ra to defeat the Armed Dragon in a situation where neither side could perish!

"Enter battle phase!!" Dark Marik brandished the Millennium Item in his hand and shouted, "Ra-winged Divine Dragon, attack the King of Disruption!!!"

"boom--------------------"

Golden wings unfurled in an instant, unleashing a torrent of terrifying scorching heat that rained down upon the chaotic arena.

Faced with such a terrifying attack, the Disruptor King, who had tried to put up a stubborn resistance, ultimately failed to withstand it and was reduced to colorful fragments in the exploding flames!

"Boom!!!!!"

As the fragments scattered, the monster area that Malik had sealed away was also unlocked.

"Battle Phase over~" Dark Marik sneered. "Set three cards face-down, it's your turn~"

Seeing that the Winged Dragon of Ra did not target the Armed Dragon, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's great, it seems Malik doesn't want a lose-lose situation either!" Cheng said with lingering fear.

"Moreover, in the next round, the attack power of the Wandering Dragon will increase by 1000, and at that time..." Yu Jialong said, wiping the sweat from his face. But he suddenly realized that something seemed wrong!

"W-what's wrong? Otogi?" Honda was taken aback and turned his head to ask.

Yuji frowned, unable to explain himself for a moment.

Finally, King Yu, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, spoke up: "Dark Malik couldn't possibly be unaware of the effects of Armed Dragon. Since he knows that Armed Dragon's attack power will exceed that of Ra's Winged Divine Dragon in the next turn, why did he still choose to attack Disruption King?"

"Game, you mean Malik did this on purpose?!" Jonouchi's expression changed drastically.

Wang Yang remained silent, only gazing at You Che in quiet contemplation.

"Whoosh——————————————"

"My turn!"

"Activate the Spell Card - Pot of Greed!"

Draw two cards from your deck!

As Youche drew cards from the deck, he looked towards the battlefield.

Since Malik chose to attack the Disruptor King, it means that the foreshadowing he laid in the group stage has worked.

Although he had the opportunity to use fusion to dodge the attack of the Winged Dragon of Ra, such an action was not of any real significance.

There are many ways to summon the three brothers of Disruption, but there is only one card to remove the fusion. Rather than wasting it on a harmless attack, it is better to save it for later to remove the fusion between the Duelist and Ra's Winged Dragon.

Yu Che clearly remembers that in the anime, the effect of duelists sacrificing their life points to convert into the attack power of the Winged Dragon of Ra could be interrupted by fusion removal.

After glancing at the two cards he had just drawn, Youche announced:

"Magic Card - Magic Hammer!!"

Return this card and one card from your hand to your deck, then draw the same number of cards!

"Activate Pot of Greed again to return five monsters from the Graveyard to the Deck and draw two more cards!!"

Using this maneuver, which could only be done in the DM and GX eras, Yu Che greatly refreshed his hand. After mentally rehearsing his tactics once again, Yu Che shouted loudly:

"Entering battle phase! Armed Dragon - Lightning Lv10!! Attack on the Winged Divine Dragon of Ra!!!"

"roar------------------"

The towering, armed dragon stomped forward and let out an angry roar.

But just then, Dark Malik lifted the cover and chuckled:

"Don't rush, don't rush~ Swim the wheel~"

"The moment you enter the battle phase, I will activate the Trap Card—Farewell!!"

"This card can only be used during your opponent's Battle Phase. Discard one Spell Card to negate the effects of face-up monsters on the field until the end of this turn!!"

"In this way, your Armored Dragon will not only lose its ability to be destroyed in battle, but its attack power will also drop back to 3000!!"

Dark Marik laughed smugly, "I know very well that the reason you dared to launch such a reckless attack on the God Cards is entirely due to the Shield Warrior in your graveyard!!"

"That card can protect one monster on the field during battle, but what if I banish it? How will you deal with that?!"

"Chain Farewell, activate the Spell Card - Grave Digger Ghoul!!"

"Remove one or two monsters from your opponent's graveyard from the Duel!!!"

"Hahahahahahaha!!" Dark Marik roared with laughter, "Youcha, in the end, your Armed Dragon will be shattered by the Winged Dragon of Ra!!"

"Even though the combat damage is only a mere 1000 points, in a dark duel, you simply cannot resist the materialized divine strike!!"

"Prepare to be completely melted in the flames of God, filled with endless fear and pain!!"

"In the end, the flames of the Winged Dragon of Ra will be burned to ashes by your soul!!"

Hahahahahahahaha!!!

Malik's loud laughter startled everyone.

"What?! Yu Che is going to lose?!"

"There are very few people who can withstand the Dark Duel to begin with, let alone the God Cards from the Dark Duel!!"

"How could this be?! Didn't Malik trigger the Executioner's effect last round? Why is he only using this combo now?"

"That's because the effect of farewell can only be activated during the opponent's turn..."

The terrifying flames reached their peak in an instant, and under the effect of the trap card, the Armed Dragon's attack power was reduced from 4000 to 3000.

Just when everyone was in utter despair, Malik, who was looking through the cards in the Graveyard, suddenly froze: "N-N-what?!"

Seeing Malik's astonished expression, everyone watching was also taken aback.

"Malik, you haven't found the card you wanted to banish, have you?" Youche pressed the card in his hand, looking ready to pounce.

"This, how is this possible?!" Dark Malik frowned.

You Che slowly said, "From the very beginning, the Shield Warriors were just a decoy!"

"During the group duel, even though I couldn't block Kaiba's attack anymore, the monster's effect still activated. Why?!"

"I just wanted to let you all know that I have this card in my deck!!"

"And now, the duel is more than halfway through, so you would naturally assume that there is that monster in my graveyard."

"But in fact, the Shield Warrior isn't in the graveyard at all, he's in my hands!!"

With that, You Che threw the shield warrior into the graveyard and shouted loudly:

"At the start of the damage step, activate the Quick-Play Spell Card - Advanced Enhancement!!"

"Discard one card from your hand to increase the ATK of one monster on your field by 100 times its Level until the End Phase!"

"Due to this card's effect, Armed Dragon's ATK will return to 4000, matching that of Ra's Winged Dragon!!!"

"Although under normal circumstances, Armored Dragon would perish together with Ra's Winged Dragon, I can exclude the Shield Warrior who was just sent to the graveyard from the duel, so that Armored Dragon will not be destroyed in this battle!!"

"So, Malik, what was ultimately destroyed in the battle wasn't my trump card, the Armed Dragon, but your God-Kara—the Winged Dragon of Ra!!!"

Chapter 182 A fight to the death! A ruthless and insane dark duel!

When Malik flipped over the two face-up cards, everyone's hearts were in their throats.

With the remaining LP, it wouldn't be difficult for Yu Che to withstand 1,000 points of damage, but that's a dark duel after all!

Once a god's attack is materialized, let alone a thousand points, even a mere hundred points could be fatal.

Fortunately, in this game of strategy and calculation, Yu Che ultimately prevailed. Relying on the foreshadowing he had laid in the previous group duel, he successfully countered Malik's move and defeated Ra's Winged Dragon with Armored Dragon!

"boom---------------"

A torrent of powerful lightning descended from the sky, and the Winged Dragon of Ra spread its wings, unleashing terrifying flames once more!

Just as the two monsters were about to perish together, a monster suddenly appeared from the graveyard, taking the fatal blow for Armed Dragon. Then, an explosive bolt of lightning crashed down! Amidst the angry wails of the God Card, Ra Winged Dragon, along with the blindingly hot sunlight, vanished abruptly!

"Tsk..."

Dark Malik frowned, having suffered a tactical defeat.

He had been scheming for a long time, not wanting to waste his precious resurrection opportunity on a mere three-star monster, but in the end, he still had to use the Phoenix form of the Winged Dragon of Ra to deal with the Armed Dragon.

"Hehehe..." After the impact, Dark Malik slowly raised his head amidst the dissipating flames and thunderstorm, his expression becoming even more ferocious and excited. "Well done, Youcha~"

"However, you should also know~"

"The Winged Dragon of Ra will only unleash its true power after entering the Graveyard!!"

"Soon, you will face the ultimate terror: the hellfire from the phoenix!!!"

His gaze swept across the battlefield, and after confirming the cards he held, Youche ended the battle phase and announced, "Entering Main Phase Two!"

"Activate the Continuous Spell Card - Armed Dragon's Thunder!!"

"Once per turn, add any Armed Dragon Raiden Lv3 or lower (Level 10 or lower) from the Graveyard to your hand!! End turn!!"

Seeing the Continuous Magic Card, the crowd below breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Great! Yuzuru's last card in his hand was this one!" Jonouchi vaguely remembered the card's effect. "This card can be destroyed by card effects instead of Armed Dragon, and Armed Dragon itself cannot be destroyed by battle. In any case, Yuzuru can withstand Malik's attack next turn!!"

“You’re wrong, you mediocre person.” Seto Kaiba suddenly spoke after hearing what Jonouchi said. This was the first time he had communicated with anyone since the duel began.

"Damn it, I've already told you, don't call me a mediocre person!" Jonouchi couldn't help but shout.

Seto Kaiba remained expressionless, gazing at the battlefield as he slowly said, "Back in the quarterfinals, I used KC Group's supercomputer to decipher the ancient priest script on the Ra's Wing Dragon card."

"After entering Phoenix form, Ra Wing Dragon can sacrifice 1,000 LP of the Duelist to destroy other monsters on the field. Logically speaking, this kind of destruction triggered by an effect should be considered an effect destruction, and Yu-Che's Continuous Spell Card should also be able to block it."

"However, the ancient priestly script on the card clearly states that this destructive effect ignores all resistances!!"

"In other words, even if there is a Thunderous Armored Dragon on the field, the roaming Thunderous Armored Dragon will eventually be destroyed by the Phoenix's flames."