“Yugi, in this brief Duel, I’ve come to understand something.” Hayato placed his hand on his deck without drawing, feeling he should trust his intuition this one time. “The more you try to avoid problems and take shortcuts by means other than strength, the further you stray from your goal. Taking a shortcut is actually taking the long way around.”
“Huh?” Yugi didn't understand what Hayato meant by suddenly saying that.
“In other words, taking the long way around is actually the shortcut. Your ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ on the field, I’m going to break through him head-on!”
“Draw! Then summon this monster!”
Hayato drew the top card of his deck, skipping the step of turning it over to look, and directly summoned it to the field. That card was—
“Dark Knight Gai—a—!!!”
Hayato’s sudden, imposing shout didn't scare Jonouchi and the others, because what they cared more about was:
“T-There are two Gaias!? Two monsters with 2300 Attack Points!” This was Jonouchi, but Hayato inexplicably hallucinated Jonouchi as Kaito Tenjo.
“Hayato actually has such a powerful monster too? The Duel is getting interesting again.” This was Honda. Hayato’s constant defense had made the Duel a bit boring, but the appearance of a second Gaia undoubtedly brought new excitement to the Duel.
Anzu’s thought was— “Just now, Hayato, did he completely summon it without even looking at what he drew!? Does he have X-ray vision!!”
Although there was a slight surprise on Yugi’s face, he wasn't completely surprised. He smiled as he looked at Hayato: “It’s Gaia, the same monster appeared at the same time, that’s rare. However,”
Yugi paused, then pointed at his own Gaia on the field and said, “Both Gaias have 2300 Attack Points. If Hayato, you attack me with Gaia, the outcome will only be a mutual destruction, right? Then, because of the rules, you will lose at the end of the turn.”
The rules of early Game King were very different from later ones. Not only in the 2000 Life Points and the lack of tributes for summoning monsters, but also in the rules of victory and defeat. One condition was one side's Life Points (LP) reaching zero; the other condition was if one side had no monsters on the field at the end of their turn, they would also lose the match.
Conversely, monsters also had the restriction of not being able to directly attack the player.
Although Hayato summoned “Dark Knight Gaia,” if he recklessly attacked like this, the result would indeed be as Yugi said.
“Of course I’ve considered what you said, Yugi boy!” Hayato drew another card from his hand and revealed it. “But, I still have this card in my hand!”
The blue-bordered Magical Cylinder was placed on the field, with a divine sword engraved upon it, flashing with lightning.
“Dragon Destroyer Sword,” its Effect is to increase a Warrior’s Attack Points by 700, and absolute suppression against Dragon monsters!
“Gaia’s Attack Points actually increased again, a full 3000 points!” Jonouchi exclaimed at the opportune moment, and even Yugi’s face showed complete surprise.
Compared to the 800 or 900 Attack Points of ordinary monsters, “Dark Knight Gaia” with the “Dragon Destroyer Sword” and its 3000 Attack Points was like heaven and earth, a huge difference!
“‘Dark Knight Gaia,’ attack ‘Dark Knight Gaia’!” Saying something incomprehensible to those unfamiliar with the battle, Hayato launched an attack on the Gaia that had been arrogant on Yugi’s field for so long.
Just as easily as Yugi’s Gaia destroyed Hayato’s other monsters, Hayato’s Gaia eliminated Yugi’s Gaia. Gaia sent Gaia to the Grave.
“Then, my turn ends.”
【Hayato: 1600LP, Hand 3 → 4 → 2】
【Yugi: 1600LP → 900LP, Hand 6】
“My turn, draw.” With his Life Points reduced to below 1000, Yugi did not panic. He glanced at the monster he drew but was not in a hurry to summon it, instead asking Hayato: “The combination of ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ and ‘Dragon Destroyer Sword’ is really powerful, isn’t it?”
“Of course, this is my ace combo in my deck; there’s nothing stronger among Warriors.” At least up until now; newly released ones don't count.
“It seems, Hayato, you’re very serious about this Duel.” Yugi nodded knowingly, and said calmly, “Then, I will also use my strongest combo.”
Although his words were calm, Hayato could see his seriousness in Yugi’s eyes.
“The monster I’m going to summon is this one, come forth—”
“Summoned Skull!”
The 2500 Attack Point skeletal demon was summoned by Yugi. Before Hayato could point out that 2500 < 3000, Yugi played another card.
“Then I activate this Magical Cylinder, ‘The Force,’ I will designate your Gaia on the field, Hayato, and my ‘Summoned Skull’ on the field.”
“nani!?? Why do you have this card?!”
Hayato’s eyes widened. You’re a god-draw dog, how do you have all the comeback cards?!
Gaia, whose Attack Points had painstakingly risen to 3000, had its Attack Points instantly reduced to 1500 due to “The Force”’s Effect, and this stripped power flowed into the Summoned Skull on Yugi’s field. 2500+1500, its Attack Points directly soared to a full 4000!
“It’s 4000 points!” Jonouchi, who was in charge of gasping in surprise, did not disappoint the others, indeed exclaiming, “That’s five times my ‘Shadow of the Six Samurai’!”
“Then, I use ‘Summoned Skull’ to attack your ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ on the field, Hayato.”
Along with Yugi’s light words, the “Summoned Skull,” as if on drugs, gave the dejected Gaia an over-the-top electrotherapy. The 2500 points of damage not only instantly emptied Hayato’s Life Points but also overflowed quite a bit.
“Phew, that was close, I almost lost.” The victor, Yugi Mutou, said modestly to Hayato as he put the cards on the table back into his deck.
“Don’t you try to humblebrag to me; I saw it long ago. That ‘Summoned Skull’ of yours seemed to have been in your hand all along, Yugi?” Yugi didn't have the habit of shuffling his hand after drawing, so Hayato knew very well that both “Summoned Skull” and that “The Force” had actually been held in Yugi’s hand all along.
Theoretically speaking, Yugi couldn't be considered to have made a comeback with a god-draw, because he always had a countermeasure in his hand, he just hadn't used it yet.
If he kept defending, no matter how many powerful monsters Yugi summoned, he wouldn't be able to end the battle quickly. But if he first used Gaia as bait to trick himself into attacking, then Yugi could use the combo of “The Force” and “Summoned Skull” to directly clear his Life Points.
It has to be said that the current Yugi already had a hint of the later heavy-trap style; he actually knew how to play tactics, truly cunning.
In response, Yugi just laughed “Ehehe,” trying to “cute”-ly get away with it.
Hayato returned Gaia to his deck, then put the deck in the tin box and stored it carefully. He recalled the inexplicable feeling he had when he drew Gaia earlier. But before he could think too much, he heard Sugoroku’s powerful voice from inside the house: “I found it!”