Chapter 98: Interruption
"Activate Spell Card, [Monster Reborn]!"
As a quite practical Card, Hayato naturally had a [Monster Reborn] in his Hand. The Ankh symbol appeared on Hayato's Field, and [XYZ-Dragon Cannon], which had repeatedly bounced between the Graveyard and the Field, returned to the Field once more.
"You want to use [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]'s Annihilation Mode to Destroy [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] which has lost its [Dragon Shield]? Don't even think about succeeding!" Before Hayato could even Activate [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]'s Effect, Kaiba hurriedly flipped his previously Set Card. "[Forbidden Dress]! My [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]'s ATK decreases by 600 Points, it cannot be Destroyed by Effect, nor can it be targeted by Effects!"
"In other words, your [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]'s Effect is now ineffective against my [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]. Even if you used a Card like [Dark Hole], you couldn't Destroy my invincible [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon]!"
[Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] [ATK 4500 → 3900]
"Tch." Although Hayato had subsequent plans, he was still a bit annoyed that something he could have solved with [XYZ-Dragon Cannon] now couldn't be. "Then I Activate the Effect of [Frontline Base] on my Field, Special Summoning [W-Wing Catapult] from my Hand! Then, I Flip the Face-down Position Monster on my Field!"
The blue W-Wing Catapult appeared on the Field, and the Face-Down Defense Position Monster Hayato Summoned last Turn revealed its True Form. It was [V-Tiger Jet]. "Two VW Monsters Combine! [VW-Tiger Catapult]!"
"I hacked into the data center of the Duel Platform used in Duelist Kingdom. That Monster has the Effect to change a Monster's Battle Position, right?" Kaiba suddenly spoke. "But no matter how you change [Blue-Eyes]'s state, even a [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] in Defense Position cannot be broken through by you!"
"Then I'll break through it for you to see. Since you hacked the data center, you must know how I ultimately won the Duel where I used this Monster, right?" As Hayato spoke, he performed another Summon. "[VW] and [XYZ], two Monsters, Combine again, accelerating beyond the limit!"
"This is my Glory as a Duelist, my Tamashii! [VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon]!"
Before the invincible Ultimate Dragon, the weak machines, with fearless Hearts, combined, linked, and evolved. [VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon], with an ATK equal to Blue-Eyes, appeared on Hayato's Field.
[VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon] [ATK 3000]
"Because its Skill is enhanced after linking, once per Turn, it can Banish a Monster without needing a Hand? But no! The current [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] cannot be the Target of any Effect!"
"If your Opponent cannot be weakened, then I'll just strengthen myself as much as possible." Hayato revealed his last Hand Card. "You should be familiar with the Effect of [Inheritance of Power], right?"
"I will Disassemble the [Z-Metal Tank] equipped to [X-Head Cannon] on my Field, and then Target it to Activate [Inherit—"
Just as Hayato was about to Activate the Card, a boy's voice suddenly came from the forest not far away, causing both Kaiba and Hayato to freeze.
"Help me—!!!"
"That voice is, Keipei!!" Kaiba's face suddenly changed. He quickly gathered the Cards on the Field and put them back into his briefcase. Without waiting for the Elevator to descend, he leaped down from the high Duel Platform. Before the image of [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon] had completely disappeared from the Field, Kaiba was already sprinting towards the forest.
Hayato only heard Kaiba's voice: "The Victory or Defeat of this Duel will be decided another day. Until we meet again, Hayato Kobayashi!"
"What the heck, I was clearly about to win! Truly Kaiba the Coward, huh." Hayato Ranted, annoyed. If he successfully Activated [Inheritance of Power], transferring the 1500 ATK of [Z-Metal Tank] to [VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon]'s 3000 ATK, its ATK would surpass [Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon].
Then, he just needed to use [X-Head Cannon] for a Direct Attack, and he would win.
Annoyed as he was, Hayato was also quite worried about Keipei's voice coming from the forest. According to his guess, Keipei must have been captured by the people from Industrial Illusions again. However, looking at the distance between the Duel Platform and the ground, Hayato didn't dare to jump down directly. Are you kidding? This was almost four or five meters high, not everyone was like Kaiba.
Forget about throwing Cards to cut steel wires, blocking bullets with a briefcase, jumping off a cliff and climbing back up—these were all inhuman Operations Kaiba had performed. Jumping down from the height of two or three stories was nothing to him.
While standing on the slowly descending Elevator, Hayato said to Bakura, who was watching, "Bakura, quickly go after Kaiba. He's currently unregistered, it would be Bad if he got caught by the people from Industrial Illusions."
Meanwhile, Yugi and his friends were chasing the Staff from Industrial Illusions who had kidnapped Keipei.
"Let go of Keipei! He's just a kid!"
"If you have the guts, come at me!" Yugi and Téa, whose Bodies were relatively weaker, were a step slower. Tristan and Joey Wheeler were rushing at the front. Looking at the two Staff ahead, they exchanged glances, put all their strength into sprinting forward, and then simultaneously shoulder-charged them.
"Ah!"
Although the two Staff were adults, burdened by holding a child, Joey Wheeler and Tristan caught up to them. The collision successfully knocked them to the ground, and even Keipei was thrown to the ground as a result. However, Keipei, who had just let out a loud cry for help, was now sleeping like a dead pig.
Not long ago, Keipei had stolen Star Chips from someone else and used them as a Bet, along with Hayato's Star Chips, for a Duel against Yugi. However, the Monsters Hayato left for Keipei were either Small Fry with less than 1000 ATK or high-Star Small Fry. Like the [Ojama] Brothers, [Crawler], [Mystical Elf], and so on. Moreover, there wasn't even a single Spell or Trap Card included.
It was a slaughter. Yugi had originally heard that Keipei had stolen Hayato's Cards and had seriously set up Traps, but Keipei lost the Duel without even being able to break through the five Set Cards Yugi had placed in his Spell/Trap Zone on the first Turn.
Pharaoh said he was glad he didn't take over for aibo, otherwise bullying a child would be too shameful.
After losing the Duel, Yugi and his friends took Keipei to find the Duelist whose Chips were stolen, but upon reaching the Dock, they discovered that the Duelist had already been sent away from Duelist Kingdom, and the Staff at the Dock had thrown away all the Star Chips they were given. You know, besides Hayato's and the stolen Duelist's, there were even a few of Yugi's among them.
A very annoyed Yugi immediately switched to Pharaoh mode and challenged the Staff to a Duel. The Staff, who normally wouldn't participate in Duels, unexpectedly accepted, but he arranged an Opponent for Yugi. A Duelist who claimed to be the Undead of "Kaiba Seto".
After an intense Duel, Yugi quickly realized that the Opponent was definitely not Kaiba. Although the Deck's style was very similar, on one hand, that Duelist's Deck only contained [Rabidragon], which was called the "dead Blue-Eyes", and on the other hand, the lines the Opponent shouted while Dueling weren't chuunibyou or passionate at all.
After Yugi defeated the Imposter "Kaiba" and achieved Victory in the Duel, they suddenly discovered that Keipei was missing. It wasn't until Keipei cried for help that they realized that during the Duel, while everyone's attention was focused on the Duel, the people from Industrial Illusions had taken the opportunity to kidnap Keipei.
After that, it was the current scene.