132. 10,000 LP for a Candle Flickering in the Wind!

“Special Summon—Magnet Warrior Alpha! Magnet Warrior Beta! Magnet Warrior Gamma!”

They had no effects and were merely three adorable Normal Monsters, yet under the effect of their fusion monster, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, they entered the battlefield without consuming a single Normal Summon.

“Without using his once-per-turn Normal Summon, he summoned three monsters to his field. If he happened to possess any one of the three Egyptian Gods—and had it in his hand right now—then he could even summon a god in a single turn!”

As Yugi’s closest friend, Joey watched the three Magnet Warriors revived from the graveyard and could not help imagining what it would be like if Yugi possessed one of the three Egyptian Gods.

“Too bad there are no ‘ifs,’ you pathetic underling!”

How could Kaiba, who was forever trading barbs with Joey, be absent at a moment like this? Hearing Joey’s fanciful remark, he immediately cast him a disdainful glance and crushed his fantasy with his usual arrogant expression.

“You—Kaiba!”

“Hmph! A pathetic underling is still a pathetic underling!”

Completely unconcerned that Joey was furious enough to pick a fight, Kaiba turned his attention back to the field, gazing at the second Egyptian God standing and coiling behind Yuyi.

“Slifer… Compared with Obelisk, whose power inflicts lethal damage on individual monsters or players, Slifer’s strength lies primarily in its absolute suppression of weaker monsters—or, more precisely, monsters whose attack or defense does not exceed 2,000 points!”

After comparing the two, Kaiba felt that the pressure exerted by the Sky Dragon was no less than that of the Divine Beast.

Why?

Because his deck—the “Blue-Eyes” series—consisted mostly of high-attack, high-defense high-level monsters. He relied on their overwhelming statistics to crush his opponents and win his Duels.

But if he encountered the Sky Dragon, the second mouth on its body would reduce the Blue-Eyes monsters’ vaunted attack and defense to roughly the same level as those of low-level monsters. And restoring their original power would not be easy, either. It would require far too many resources.

Moreover, as long as a monster remained on the field after being summoned, Slifer’s Thunderforce would continue to affect it. It was practically a continuous effect!

Back on the field, Yuyi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the three Magnet Warriors standing in attack position.

“Four monster cards in hand. Using the high-level fusion monster Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, he sent its three component monsters—the Magnet Warriors—to the graveyard and Special Summoned itself. Then he used its own effect to tribute itself and revive the Magnet Warriors from before the fusion. From beginning to end, it was all Special Summoning…”

He paused, then laughed.

“As expected of you, YU↑GI↓!”

Not only had Yugi conceived of such a strategy, he had also gathered all three component monsters—the Magnet Warriors—along with their fusion monster, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, in his hand at once.

What else could that be but the result of a deck bond raised to its absolute limit?

“YU↑GI↓! If you happen to have one of the Egyptian Gods in your hand right now, then perhaps you could summon a god on the very first turn, just as I did earlier! What a magnificent feat that would be! Too bad there aren’t that many ‘ifs’!”

“Now then! Let your Magnet Warriors enjoy the Sky Dragon’s service! Its second ability activates again!”

Slifer: ?

Although Slifer had no idea what Yuyi meant by “service,” it still obeyed his command. Its second dragon mouth opened once more, spitting out three white spheres wrapped in purple flames and lightning. They shot toward the three revived Magnet Warriors at incredible speed.

“This is it! This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!”

None of the three Magnet Warriors possessed attack or defense exceeding the Sky Danger Line of 2,000 points. Yet when faced with the incoming lightning orbs, Yugi merely raised the corners of his mouth, looking as though everything had gone according to plan.

“At this moment, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Mirror Magic from my hand!”

As the card activated, a gigantic mirror abruptly appeared before the three Magnet Warriors, blocking the three consecutive Thunderforce blasts from the Sky Dragon.

The enormous mirror absorbed the lightning spheres, then suddenly changed direction and reflected all three attacks back toward their caster—Yugi himself.

As everyone watched in growing astonishment, Yugi raised his left hand and aimed the Duel Disk strapped to his arm at the three reflected Thunderforce blasts.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Three successive tones rang out. The instant the Duel Disk caught the three lightning spheres, Yugi’s Life Points changed.

“Wha—what?!”

“Yugi… He actually absorbed the Sky Dragon’s Thunderforce?!”

“And he converted the power of those blasts into Life Points, raising his total to an unprecedented ten thousand in an instant!”

“What exactly is that Spell Card called Mirror Magic? How can it block a god’s Thunderforce and even increase its owner’s Life Points?”

“…”

Seeing Yugi’s Life Points soar to 10,000 in an instant, people all over the world lost their composure.

Hearing the astonished cries from every direction, even Dark Yugi, who was controlling the body and fighting at that moment, could not help but smile with delight.

A Duel was not merely an opportunity to cross swords with a powerful opponent. It was also the moment to display one’s unparalleled technical skill. No Duelist could resist the desire to have their plays praised by the spectators—and even by their opponent.

“Mirror Magic is a Spell Card that can be activated when an opponent’s card effect lowers the attack of a monster on my field. The attack reduction is negated, and my Life Points are restored by an amount equal to the attack reduction.”

That explained everything.

That was why, after reviving the three Magnet Warriors, Yugi had placed them all in attack position: to fulfill the activation condition of Mirror Magic. It could be activated when the attack of a monster on his field was reduced by an opponent’s card effect.

This way, he not only protected the Magnet Warriors, but also converted all three attack reductions into Life Points.

Each Thunderforce blast reduced attack by 2,000 points. Three blasts amounted to 6,000 points.

That was why Yugi’s Life Points had risen to the terrifying total of 10,000.

“As expected of you, Yugi!”

Although Yuyi had already guessed Yugi’s strategy, he still could not help applauding once it was revealed.

“Slifer’s second ability, Thunderforce, is classified under the rules as a mandatory Trigger Effect with Spell Speed 1. Yet you turned that effect against itself, activating the Quick-Play Spell Mirror Magic. Not only did you save all three Magnet Warriors, you also raised your Life Points to a terrifying height.”

“You flatter me!”

Facing the man who had once been the first to defeat him head-on, Yugi accepted the praise without the slightest hesitation.

In terms of both tactical execution and spectacle, this was no less impressive than Kaiba’s earlier move of using Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon’s effect to send the Divine Beast to the graveyard. If anything, it was even more spectacular.

Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon was, after all, a monster of tremendous power in both its statistics and effects. It was nearly impossible for another Duelist in the world to recreate that scene.

But the Mirror Magic in Yugi’s hand was different. It was not as common as Pot of Greed, but anyone willing to spend enough money could obtain it by opening a few more packs at an official card shop—or simply purchase it outright.

By comparison, the one-of-a-kind brilliance of Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon naturally paled beside a strategy that could be reproduced by countless people.

“Although your Life Points have risen to a terrifying level, if you cannot defeat the god, then no matter how high your Life Points are, you are no different from someone with the initial 4,000 when standing before a god. You understand that, don’t you, Yugi?”

Every word Yuyi spoke carried the unmistakable implication:

Come on! Come defeat my god! Use the strategy I have already seen through!

“I understand that perfectly well!”

The power of the three Egyptian Gods was infinite.

As for the Slifer currently before him, its power was determined by the cards in its controller’s hand and could reach as high as 7,000 points under normal circumstances. It was no easy opponent.

The Divine Beast that had appeared earlier could sacrifice two monsters and raise its own power to infinity for the duration of a single turn.

Then there was The Winged Dragon of Ra, which Yugi had seen but the general public had not. Under normal circumstances, its attack power depended on the three monsters offered as tributes. After being revived from the graveyard, it could even merge with its player and absorb the power of other monsters on the field.

It could be said that defeating one of the three Egyptian Gods head-on was practically impossible. There was simply no way to determine the upper limit of their power.

However, for Yugi at this moment, defeating Slifer—whose statistics had already been fixed—was not difficult.

Because the key card was already in his hand.

That was the bond between him and his deck.