Chapter 018: The President vs. the Mortal! Blue Eyes vs. Red Eyes!

“What is this?” Holding the round, disc-shaped device in his hands, Jonouchi looked at Kaiba in confusion, his curiosity mirrored by Yugi and the others who gathered around him.

“Duel Disk! My newly developed card battle machine! With this, even without a dueling platform, you can still virtualize Duel Monsters and duel anytime, anywhere!”

“Amazing!”

Kaiba’s explanation left Yugi and his friends astonished. If this disc-shaped device worked as Kaiba claimed, it would be a major evolution for the Duel Monsters game.

“First, wear the deck tray on your left hand.” Following Kaiba’s instructions, Jonouchi detached the small device from the duel disk, slid his left hand through the wristband from below, and fastened it to his wrist.

“What do I do next?” Jonouchi examined the device, noticing a slender black cord connecting the wristband to the disc.

“Just watch,” Kaiba replied, slipping his own duel disk onto his arm.

“Once the deck tray is secured, insert your deck into the slot on the duel disk. This white electronic number here is our duel life points.” As Kaiba inserted his deck into the slot, a small electronic screen above it instantly lit up with the white digits “2000”—the standard starting life points for a duel.

“Then, once everything is ready, you can draw cards from the slot and place the card you want to play on the top of the duel disk.” Kaiba had installed a special mechanism in the duel disk to hold monster cards in place. As long as there weren’t too many cards stacked in one area, the device would secure them, and cards could be easily removed or swapped with a gentle touch.

“Finally, you just throw the duel disk out.”

“Huh? Throw it?” Jonouchi and the others were bewildered, but Kaiba proceeded to toss his duel disk.

“Like this.” With a swift motion, he hurled the duel disk, and when it flew two or three meters away, the connecting cord stretched taut, halting the disk in midair. Thanks to the magnetic levitation system Kaiba had installed, the disk appeared to skim the ground, but in reality hovered several centimeters above it.

Under the group’s astonished gaze, the duel disk floated and began spinning rapidly like a top. Amid a dazzling whirlwind of white light particles, the shape of a monster gradually materialized.

“Come forth! Rampaging Minotaur!” Kaiba shouted. A creature with brown skin, clad in blue, yellow, and red armor, wielding a massive iron axe, appeared above the duel disk.

(Minotaur Warrior, Level 4, Attack: 1700)

“Using the high-speed 3D engine I designed, the monster card’s image data is converted into a three-dimensional projection.” Watching the lifelike Minotaur on the duel disk, everyone gasped. Even without a duel platform, dueling was possible—Kaiba’s innovation was truly remarkable.

(The first-generation duel disk: in summary, the deck tray represents your deck position, and the duel disk represents the dueling area. They’re connected by a cord, and throwing out the duel disk activates the 3D projection. To summon new monsters or play cards, you must retrieve and reuse the duel disk.)

“Awesome!” Jonouchi grew excited at the sight of the towering Minotaur, over two meters tall.

“I’ll use this card to decide the match!”

He inserted his deck into the tray, selected a monster from his five-card hand, and, following Kaiba’s instructions, placed the monster card in the designated area atop the duel disk. With a strong toss, he launched his own duel disk.

“Go! Armored Lizard!” Beneath blue armor was a green-skinned, humanoid lizard, reminiscent of Spider-Man’s old rival, Doctor Lizard—though one wore armor, the other a lab coat.

(Armored Lizard, Level 4, Attack: 1500)

After summoning his monster, Jonouchi locked eyes with Kaiba.

“Duel!” ×2

Five minutes later…

“Savage King!” This was Jonouchi’s eighth monster since Armored Lizard. Silver armor punctuated with spikes, sharp curved blades on his gauntlets, and green skin gave him a resemblance to Armored Lizard.

(Savage King, Level 5, Attack: 1800)

With an attack of 1800, it was a solid card for the current dueling environment, even as a Level 5 monster. But against Kaiba’s fusion-summoned Centaur Minotaur, it was still outmatched.

[Centaur Minotaur, Fusion Monster, Beast-Warrior type, Earth attribute, Level 6, Attack: 2000, Defense: 1700. Fusion materials: “Minotaur Warrior” + “Centaur Beast.”]

As Savage King fell to Centaur Minotaur, Jonouchi’s life points dropped from 700 to 500 (barely hanging on).

“Hah… hah… hah…” After shouting out monster names, tossing the duel disk, and focusing intensely, Jonouchi was nearly exhausted.

“Where’s that bravado you had earlier, Jonouchi?” Kaiba mocked mercilessly as Jonouchi knelt on the ground. He was just as reckless and ordinary as Kaiba remembered.

“If this is all you’ve got, then let’s end this duel here. My duel disk has been tested enough.”

Utter disappointment!

Kaiba wanted nothing more than to finish the duel, retrieve his device, and head with his brother Mokuba to Pegasus’s castle for the real challenge.

‘No, this won’t do! I can’t win like this—the gap in decks and skill is too wide!’ Kneeling, Jonouchi looked up at Kaiba, who towered above him, feeling close to giving up.

This was Jonouchi’s first true duel against Kaiba. He had assumed Kaiba wasn’t much stronger (having watched his duel with Yugi), and after his battles in Duelist Kingdom, Jonouchi believed he could take on anyone except Yugi and Yami. But now, facing Kaiba directly, he realized how arrogant and naive his previous thoughts were.

“Don’t be discouraged! Stand up, Jonouchi!”

“Yeah! I don’t want to see you like this! Get up and keep dueling, Jonouchi!”

The shouts and encouragement from his friends reignited Jonouchi’s fighting spirit.

“No way! I know! I haven’t given up yet! The real duel is just beginning!”

His eyes grew resolute as he looked at Kaiba, using his last ounce of strength to call upon his hope:

“My turn! Draw!”

His card-drawing motion traced a shining arc through the air.

“Yes!” Upon seeing the card he drew, Jonouchi was instantly exhilarated. Finally! His ace had arrived!

“Kaiba! Prepare yourself! My trump card from Duelist Kingdom—‘Red-Eyes Black Dragon’!”

“Roar!!”

A ferocious roar, a jet-black body, crimson eyes, sharp claws, and powerful wings—the rare “Red-Eyes Black Dragon,” rivaling Blue-Eyes White Dragon in rarity, made its dazzling entrance.

[Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Normal Monster, Dragon type, Dark attribute, Level 7, Attack: 2400, Defense: 2000. Description: A black dragon with crimson eyes whose raging dark flames incinerate everything reflected in its gaze.]

“Hmph~” Kaiba’s lips curled slightly. He hadn’t expected this ordinary duelist to possess such a legendary card—“Red-Eyes Black Dragon.” It was worthy of praise.

“Go! Black Flame Bullet!!”

“Roar—!”

With a thunderous roar, a black-red fireball wreathed in white lightning shot from the Red-Eyes’s jaws, instantly destroying Kaiba’s Centaur Minotaur fusion monster.

(Kaiba Seto: 2000 LP → 1600 LP)

“Well done!” Jonouchi shouted in delight as Kaiba was forced to retrieve his duel disk.

“To get so excited over a single turn win—that’s why I say you’re the weakest duelist in history!” Kaiba retorted, drawing a card from his deck. When he glanced at the card, his taunts grew even sharper.

“Jonouchi, did you forget? My deck holds monsters far stronger than your Red-Eyes Black Dragon!”

Everyone: !!!

Danger! Jonouchi!

Kaiba’s words snapped the group out of their joy over Jonouchi’s victory. Had Kaiba not reminded them, they might have forgotten—the three legendary monsters slumbered in Kaiba’s deck, each more powerful than Red-Eyes.

“Behold! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

“Roar—!!”

A colossal body, silver-white tinged with blue light, wings stretched to their fullest—the ace monster of Kaiba, the card with the highest attack in Duel Monsters, known as the “Legendary White Dragon”—Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Normal Monster, Dragon type, Light attribute, Level 8, Attack: 3000, Defense: 2500. Description: A legendary dragon famed for its overwhelming attack power. Any opponent can be crushed; its destructive force is incalculable.]

“Prepare yourself, Jonouchi! Attack! Burst Stream of Destruction!”