Seto Kaiba: Witness the bond between me and my deck!

Here it comes! The most powerful hand-refilling Spell Card of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters era, one of the Three Great Pot of cards—the Pot of Greed descends!

“Both players now draw until their hand totals six cards!”

Pegasus, with zero cards in hand, was able to maximize his advantage by drawing six cards, while Kaiba, though he still held one, would only gain one more. But since he wasn’t the one activating the card, he wasn’t losing out.

“Next, I’ll activate the Spell Card ‘Double Summon’ from my hand! This turn, I can Normal Summon an extra monster, de-th!”

Taking advantage of the fresh new Spell Card “Double Summon,” Pegasus granted himself an additional Normal Summon this turn, and called forth the “Toon Cannon Soldier” from his hand—a purple, humanoid mechanical monster.

(Toon Cannon Soldier, Level 4, ATK: 1400)

“Battle Phase! Toon Gemini Elf, direct attack Kaiba-boy!”

With the new rules, Kaiba’s field was empty, so Pegasus launched a direct attack. Kaiba, fully aware of the rules, flipped his face-down card at that moment:

“I activate the Trap Card ‘Return from the Different Dimension’! I pay half my Life Points and Special Summon all my banished monsters!”

(Kaiba: 4000 LP → 2000 LP)

X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head, the two monsters previously banished for a fusion, returned to the field once more.

Yet just when Kaiba thought that Special Summoning his monsters in Defense Position would shield him from the Gemini Elf’s attack, the twin elves defied expectation, bypassing the monsters on his field, soaring straight for Kaiba’s back.

“What!?”

It was clear now: this Gemini Elf possessed the unique ability to bypass opponent’s monsters and strike directly. Meeting Pegasus’s right eye, Kaiba caught a glimmer of amusement—his suspicion confirmed. Toon Monsters could attack players directly, even if their opponent controlled monsters!

If he took this blow head-on, Kaiba Seto’s Life Points would be left in the triple digits—a grave disadvantage for the remainder of the duel.

“At this moment, I activate my Trap Card ‘Attack Guidance Armor’! I equip it to your monster, ‘Toon Summoned Skull’!”

A grim, demonic face armor materialized, halting the Gemini Elf mid-flight before she could unleash her kick. The armor floated before Toon Summoned Skull, forcibly latching onto it as Pegasus looked on in bewilderment.

Caught off guard by the unfamiliar armor, Toon Summoned Skull struggled to shake it off. At that instant, the Gemini Elf, her stiletto aimed at Kaiba’s back, swerved sharply and delivered a knight’s kick straight at the armored Toon Summoned Skull!

Boom!

An explosion rang out, the armor shattered, and both the attacked Toon Summoned Skull and the redirected Gemini Elf vanished from the field.

“Attack Guidance Armor allows you to redirect an opponent’s monster’s attack to another monster. If you redirect the attack to another of your opponent’s monsters, the resulting battle damage is inflicted on your opponent!”

Toon Summoned Skull had 2500 ATK; Toon Gemini Elf, 1900 ATK. The result: either the demon or the elf would be sent to the Graveyard.

(Pegasus: 3000 LP → 2400 LP)

Kaiba-boy, you never disappoint!

Pegasus squinted his right eye in silent admiration. It was a shame, though—his Toon Summoned Skull and Toon Cannon Soldier, both summoned this turn, couldn’t attack. Otherwise, this round would have finished Kaiba off.

But—

“I activate Toon Cannon Soldier’s effect! I tribute it to inflict 500 points of damage to you, Kaiba-boy!”

Cannon Soldier’s effect allowed him to tribute a monster on his field to inflict 500 damage to his opponent, with no limit to the number of times per turn. With enough monsters, he could have dealt thousands of damage. But with only the 1400-ATK Cannon Soldier eligible, Pegasus sacrificed it and dealt the blow.

(Kaiba: 2000 LP → 1500 LP)

“Finally, I set one card face-down and end my turn.”

As Pegasus ended his turn, the monsters on Kaiba’s field, no longer protected by the effect of “Cost Down,” were again banished due to the side effect of “Return from the Different Dimension.”

This time, Kaiba had paid 2000 Life Points to summon two monsters that served as mere walls, accomplishing nothing.

[Pegasus: 2400 LP, Hand: 3, Monster Zone: Toon Summoned Skull, Spell/Trap Zone: Toon World, 1 Set Card]

“My turn. Draw!”

Glancing at his hand, Kaiba’s lips curled into a grin.

“Pegasus! Your Toon monsters are indeed powerful; they can launch direct attacks regardless of whether the opponent controls monsters!”

This, something Yugi had never mentioned, seemed to be a new ability Pegasus had incorporated while perfecting his Toon Deck.

“But! Your Toon series has a glaring weakness! For the Toons to exist on the field, ‘Toon World’ must be present! So—”

Raising the card in his hand, Kaiba slapped it onto the console with a bang that made Pegasus’s right eyelid twitch.

“I activate the Quick-Play Spell ‘Twister’! I pay 500 Life Points to destroy your ‘Toon World’!”

(Kaiba: 1500 LP → 1000 LP)

With Kaiba’s payment, a mighty gray tornado materialized, sweeping toward Toon World to tear it apart. But Pegasus flipped his set card:

“Kaiba-boy, as the creator, I am well aware of my deck’s shortcomings! That’s why I also created a counter to address them!”

“I activate the Counter Trap ‘Toon Nightmare’! As long as ‘Toon World’ is on my field, I can negate the activation of your Spell, Trap, or monster effects—and destroy that card!”

A thick black mist erupted from the new pages of Toon World, instantly dissolving the tornado!

“This card can only be activated once per turn, but it’s more than enough to protect my ‘World,’ de-th!”

“Hmph!”

Kaiba Seto had been waiting for Pegasus to say just that!

“I activate my second Quick-Play Spell, ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’! Destroy your ‘Toon World’!”

Pegasus: !!!

He had calculated and prepared for everything—except that Kaiba-boy would have two Quick-Play Spells capable of destroying Spells or Traps in his hand!

With the disappearance of “Toon World,” Pegasus’s wall monster, Toon Summoned Skull, vanished as well, unable to exist without the support of the World’s power.

“Even so, I still have over two thousand Life Points! There’s no way you can wipe me out in a single turn, de-th!”

Forcing a smile, Pegasus looked at his still sizable Life Points.

“Hmph! Pegasus! It seems you haven’t yet grasped what ‘Deck Bond’ truly means!”

“What?”

While Pegasus stared in confusion, Kaiba slammed down the rest of his cards.

“I fuse my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons! Perfect, invincible, the strongest—Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!”

With the arrival of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the sudden duel drew to a close beneath Pegasus’s satisfied gaze.

Kaiba-boy, I knew you’d defeat me and claim that card worthy of standing beside the gods, de-th!