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

Understanding Wang Yang's meaning, You Che smiled and said, "I get it, game!"

"Draw a card!! Activate the Spell Card - Heavenly Treasure Card, all duelists replenish their hands to six cards!!"

"Next, using the Hades Dragon of Judgment on the game field as a sacrifice, I will perform a superior summoning—Magic Manipulation Puppet!!"

【Magic Manipulation of Dolls】

【Five stars】

[Dark Attribute/Mage Race]

[Attack/Defense: 2000/1000]

"Nani?" Daz frowned, completely baffled by what his two opponents were doing.

First, the Dark Mage's apprentice was sacrificed to summon the Hades Dragon, the God of Judgment, who had no special abilities. Then, the Hades Dragon was sacrificed again to summon this thing?!

"Daz, don't be too surprised, what follows is my combined combo with Yugi!!" Yugi shouted, "Since I have a Level 8 or higher monster on my field sent to the Graveyard, I can activate the Quick-Play Spell Card - Secret Deal with the Fiend!!"

"Special Summon from Deck - Raging Death Dragon!!!"

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

The furious roar of the dragon echoed across the azure battlefield. Before the fragments of Hades Dragon: God of Judgment could dissipate, they were devoured by a powerful dark force!

The chaotic vortex turned the solid ground in front of Youche into a swamp-like muddy mess. Suddenly, a nauseating stench of decay swept in with a gale, and an undead dragon, its body reeking of corpses, crawled out from the muddy ground in a ferocious manner!

[Rampaging Death Dragon]

[Eight Stars]

[Dark Attribute/Undead]

[Attack/Defense: 3500/0]

With a flick of his wrist, Yu Che shouted, "Daz!! The power of the Raging Death Dragon is to attack each of the opponent's monsters once!!"

"Because the Orichalcos is a monster that is forcibly revived on the battlefield once destroyed, the Berserk Death Dragon can destroy the Orichalcos an unlimited number of times!!"

"And every time the Orichalcos Giant is sent to the graveyard, the Continuous Trap Card on the field—Coffin Seller—will trigger, dealing you 300 effect damage!!"

"Ultimately, under this infinite loop, your LP will be completely wiped out!!"

"Entering the Battle Phase, activate the Quick-Play Spell Card - Forbidden Lance. This turn, the Raging Death Dragon's ATK is reduced by 800 and it is unaffected by spell effects other than this card. With this card's protection, the destruction effect of Orichalcos Double Barrier will be negated!!"

"Go!! Raging Death Dragon!!"

"Summon the Mirror Knight! Orichalcos Diablos and the Orichalcos Giant, attack!!!"

"Since four monsters have been destroyed, the Coffin Seller's effect will trigger four times, dealing you 1200 damage!!"

Chapter 253 The Shattered Orichalcum Mirror! The Escape from the Mirror Duel!

Amidst the endless fog, four lost duelists are engaged in a fierce battle.

Two more rounds passed, and through the messages conveyed by their cards, Seto Kaiba and Jonouchi had initially determined their method of mutual destruction: to destroy the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with the Trap Card Destruction Wheel!

Destruction Wheel deals damage to all duelists equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster, and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's ATK is 4500, enough to completely deplete the LP of all four duelists at the same time.

"My turn! Draw a card!" Seto Kaiba waved his arm and grinned smugly. "Heh heh, finally here? Then next turn, I can get rid of this hellhole and go find those two guys, Yugi and Yugi!"

"Wait a minute, Kaiba." Rafael, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. "Perhaps, things are not so simple."

Seto Kaiba narrowed his eyes: "What did you say?"

Rafiru frowned and said seriously, "From the moment I arrived on this island, I felt something was wrong, and sure enough, Daz took advantage of my familiarity with the island and set up this trap on the only way."

"And this duel was the same; from the very beginning, I felt that things were not so simple."

"Kaiba, just imagine, if we could escape from here by simply drawing the game, wouldn't someone like Daz think of that?"

"Didn't he foresee that the moment we saw their signature monster, we would realize who our opponent was?"

"Therefore, I suspect this was a trap from the very beginning. The two people in the mirror image might not be the real Jonouchi and Mai at all; they might just be mirror images copied by Daz!!"

Seto Kaiba snorted coldly: "I say, have you been brainwashed by Daz? Even if what you say is true, as long as it ends in a draw, the result won't change."

"Whether the other side is mediocre or a mirror image like a holographic projection."

"As long as the duel ends in a draw, this boring barrier will disappear!!"

“However,” Rafiru cautioned, “what if your mirror image plays a defensive card at the same time you activate Destruction Wheel?”

"In the end, only we will have our life points deducted, and since our opponents still have some LP left, this duel will be judged as our loss."

"By then, it will probably be too late..."

Seto Kaiba was taken aback.

Rafiru's words were not without merit.

As the champion of the first National Duel Tournament, he certainly possessed an extremely high level of dueling skills and a powerful mindset. However, this person named Rafael was also the reigning champion of the United States, and his level was no less than his own.

Indeed, if it were simply a matter of the four of them dueling with each other, after so many events, the four who were well-prepared would surely have found a way to escape the duel.

A trap that can be dispelled with just a Destruction Wheel and a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is hardly a low-level tactic that a schemer like Daz would prepare!

No matter how you look at it, something definitely doesn't seem right.

Now, the four of them are caught in a game theory-like predicament.

They had to determine the level of Daz's prediction. In the simplest case, the duelist in the mirror was merely a reflection, imitating someone else only to induce both sides to use a mutually destructive tactic. But if Daz had anticipated that everyone would guess this, then they were now facing the opponent. Defeating the opponent at all costs would be tantamount to pushing their teammates into the abyss.

Seto Kaiba's expression hardened.

At this critical juncture, success cannot be achieved through reckless gambling.

They must find a way to test what kind of trap Daz has set!

On the other side, when Seto Kaiba's movements in the mirror stopped, Jonouchi and Mai Kujaku were also momentarily bewildered.

"So, did you get it?"

"Since we've already drawn it, why don't we just cover it up? Next round, we can leave this place."

"Wait, something seems off." Jonouchi suddenly realized something. "Kaiba almost never hesitates. The way he's acting now, he probably's figured out something!"

Kong Quewu frowned slightly: "If that's the case, I also think it's a bit too easy for the trap to be broken so easily."

“Indeed.” Jonouchi reasoned seriously. “Mai, what methods do you think Daz used to get us into a duel with Kaiba and the others?”

Mai shook her head: "I don't know, there are many possibilities, but one thing is clear: only Seto Kaiba can summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a duel."

Jonouchi seemed to have thought of something: "Then how did Daz know our deck?"

"How do I know... Wait! I get it!!" Mai suddenly realized, "I know how to determine whether the duelists in the mirror are Kaiba and the others!"

Jōnei was stunned, and a light shone in his eyes.

Mai Kongchu smiled slightly: "Hmph, our deck was rebuilt before we came here. Although the Duel Disk uploads deck data to the cloud, and the Doma organization, which once infiltrated the KC Group, might have obtained this information, card data is only transmitted after a card has been used. In other words, Daz couldn't possibly know which cards are in our deck right now!!"

Jonouchi suddenly realized, "Yes! There are only two possibilities for the duelist in the mirror: either it's the real Kaiba, or it's a mirror image mimicking Kaiba's actions!"

"If it's a mirror image, then all the cards he uses are copies of the cards Kaiba has used, and the cards he hasn't used won't exist. In other words, the mirrored deck is very likely to be completely blank, and only after Kaiba takes certain actions will those blank cards manifest their corresponding effects!!"

"Not bad, Jonouchi~" Mai chuckled. "I thought your mediocre brain wouldn't be able to process this quickly enough~"

"Mai! How come you're just like Kaiba?!" Jonouchi grinned. "Well, now we've solved the puzzle Daz set up. All we need to do is determine if the Kaiba Seto in the mirror has any cards he would definitely be carrying, and we'll be able to figure out who our opponent is!!"

As they were talking, the seahorse in the mirror set a face-down card, ending the turn.

It was Mai's turn again. She looked sharply at a spell card in her hand, then resolutely played it: "My turn! Activate the spell card—Called Darkness!!"

"Declare the name of a monster card. If this card exists in your opponent's deck, add that card to your opponent's hand!!"

"Hmph~" Mai chuckled smugly, "Seto Kaiba will definitely include this card in his deck, but the Doma Organization will never be able to replicate it!!"

"The monster card I'm declaring is—Blue-Eyes Light Dragon!!!"

The moment the card was played, the battlefield fell into a deathly silence!

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Finally, bright red English letters popped up on the Peacock Dance Duel Disk, indicating that the activation of Dark Chosen had failed!

This scene brought a smile to the faces of the surprised Peacock Mai and Jonouchi.

Having seen through these tricks, Mai proudly launched her attack, shouting at the imposters in the mirror: "Alright, this trick has been completely exposed!! You are not the real Kaiba and Rafael at all!!"

"Spell Card Activated - Eagle Feather Duster!!"

"Destroy all Spell & Trap cards on your opponent's field!!!"

At the same time, Mirror Kaiba also flipped open the cover, revealing the Destruction Wheel he had just set up. He was about to detonate Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to end this duel!

"Hmph~ You've been pushed to the limit, haven't you?" Jonouchi laughed as he activated a Trap Card in retaliation, "Counter Trap Card activated—Thief's Seven Items!!"

"Pay 1000 LP to negate and destroy the activation of a Trap Card!!!"

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

A chain reaction of destruction ensued, and a fierce storm swept away the mirror image's rear area. Perhaps because its scheme had been exposed, the mirror image shattered and cracked in the storm unleashed by the Harpie Girl!

With a loud bang, the jade-like mirror shattered, revealing the space behind it.

Behind the mirror stood five Dorma assassins. Two of them were disguised as Seto Kaiba and Rafael, dueling with Mai and Jonouchi. One of them was performing a ritual in front of a brazier emitting green light to replicate the cards used by both sides. On the opposite side not far away, two Dorma assassins dressed very similarly to Mai and Jonouchi turned around in alarm.

At this moment, all the secrets were revealed!

The four were at a T-junction, with the road in the middle leading to the temple. In the opposite directions, Seto Kaiba, Rafael, Mai Kujaku, and Jonouchi looked at each other with smug expressions.

"Hmph, just as I thought! Let's end this duel right now!!" Seto Kaiba sneered.

"Kaiba, this time, I've gotten ahead of you!!" Jonouchi felt a surge of relief, but soon, the sharp-tongued Kaiba silenced him with a single sentence.

"Walking ahead of me?" Seto Kaiba scoffed disdainfully. "Isn't it only natural that you should see through such a trick? With your mediocre abilities, if you couldn't even see through this, then you would truly be ahead of me!"

"Damn it!!" Jonouchi gritted his teeth. "Mai! Let's finish this duel and then go find Yugi and the others!!"

"Alright!" Amidst the raging wind, the blonde-haired Peacock Mai shouted, "Harpie Girl, attack!!!"

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

The moment the bronze mirror shattered, Daz's expression changed drastically.

The astute King noticed his momentary lapse in concentration and anger, then smiled and said, "Yusho, it seems Jonouchi and Kaiba have escaped."