Chapter 116: Hayato VS Bandit Keith
The first match had ended, but the subsequent matches had to continue. As Joey made his way back to the Audience Seating, Croquet had already initiated the process, beginning the arrangements for the second match's contestants.
In the two avatar frames, the portraits of Joey and Ptah Garlem no longer appeared. The avatars of the remaining six people flashed rapidly before quickly coming to a stop.
It was Hayato, and Bandit Keith.
"Tch, to think it's this guy. What bad luck." Seated at the highest point of the Audience Seating, Bandit Keith saw his avatar appear on the screen and shot a displeased look at Hayato, who was not far in front of him.
Because of the exhibition duel at the opening of Duelist Kingdom, almost every participant had a strong impression of Hayato, the one who had defeated the Japanese National Champion, Weevil Underwood. There was the permanent-effect version of (Ojama Country) that held a sword in its left hand and a shield in its right, the (Ojama Yellow) that repeatedly jumped between the Graveyard and the Field and was even fried and eaten, and that troublesome (Rainbow Kuriboh) with its tricky effect.
Although he didn't think he would lose to a "kid" like Hayato, it didn't stop Bandit Keith from taking him seriously.
'However, that kid's deck composition was almost completely exposed in his previous battle, while no one who has witnessed my duels is here. Looking at it this way, I clearly have the greater advantage.' Bandit Keith stood up, intending to get a head start and go to the player preparation area backstage to modify his deck, especially to add a few cards that could counter Warrior-Type monsters.
But as he walked backstage with his back to the crowd, Bandit Keith was unaware that Hayato had also glanced at him, thinking to himself:
'I remember this Bandit Keith guy is skilled with Gambling Monsters, and they seem to be mainly Machine-Type? Maybe I should put in a few copies of (System Down)?'
Ten minutes passed quickly. Hayato and Bandit Keith, each having prepared their decks for the duel, stood on the elevators that would automatically take them to the Duel Arena.
Looking at Hayato across from him, Bandit Keith felt quite displeased. Young, a decent duelist, and good-looking—kids like this were just too annoying. And he heard that he was specially invited by that bastard Pegasus?
"Hey, kid."
Hayato had just taken his position on the Duel Arena and was about to place his deck when he heard Bandit Keith's voice. He glanced up at him. "What is it, old man?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a friendly reminder from an adult," Bandit Keith said with a mysterious smile. "Although you have some skill in Duel Monsters, you're in over your head here. You can't handle it."
"Especially since the minds of adults are far more profound than you naive little kids can imagine."
Hayato looked at the smug smile on Bandit Keith's face, somewhat puzzled, but he returned a smile of his own. "Well then, please enlighten me, old man?"
Croquet stood beside the Duel Arena and announced, "Both duelists are ready. I declare the second match of the Duelist Kingdom Top 8 qualifiers, between Hayato Kobayashi and Keith Howard."
"Let the match, begin!"
"Duel!" x2
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand: 5]
[Bandit Keith: 4000 LP, Hand: 5]
"I'll take the first turn! My Turn, Draw!" Hayato seized the First Turn with great momentum, drawing a card from his Deck. Looking at his perfect hand of red and green cards, Hayato smiled. "A duel is something that should be done with a smile. Mister Keith, allow me to bring you joy with this Duel!"
"I Summon a monster in face-down Defense Position, and then I Set three cards." Setting the only monster in his hand, Hayato expertly placed three Set Cards in his Back Row. "My turn ends."
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand: 2]
[Face-down Defense]
[Set Card][Set Card][Set Card]
'Setting up defenses on the first turn, hoping to survive my first wave of attacks and then launch a counterattack on his next turn?' Bandit Keith glanced at Hayato's monster and smirked. 'But I've already considered this possibility!'
"My Turn, Draw!" Drawing a card from his Deck and adding it to his hand, Bandit Keith played a card from his hand. "I Summon (Barrel Dragon) in Attack Position!"
A four-legged mechanical beast resembling a hunting dog appeared on Bandit Keith's Field. Though its body was generally biomimetic, the head of this (Barrel Dragon) was shaped like a revolver. The moment it appeared on the Field, the (Barrel Dragon)'s head fired a red laser beam, aiming at Hayato's face-down monster.
"When (Barrel Dragon) is summoned to the field, I can target one card you control and activate its effect to destroy it," Bandit Keith explained. "However, there's only a fifty-fifty chance that a bullet is loaded in (Barrel Dragon)'s chamber, so its effect has a one-in-two chance of succeeding."
"So it's a Gambling Card, huh. It's a real shame Joey isn't facing you; I would've loved to see a King of Gamblers Tournament." Hayato shrugged nonchalantly, as if completely unconcerned by the effect of Bandit Keith's monster. "But, I like to think my luck is pretty good."
"Heh heh, then let's see whose luck is better," Bandit Keith ordered. "(Barrel Dragon), fire at that face-down monster!"
"Click-clack-clack-clack!"
At the command, the mechanism on (Barrel Dragon)'s head shifted with a series of clicks. Two barrels, originally aligned one above the other, joined end-to-end to form a single long barrel, while a magazine clicked into place behind it.
Under expectant gazes, the trigger connected to the barrel was pulled.
"Bang!"
The firing pin ignited the gunpowder, and a bullet shot out from the barrel, destroying Hayato's Set monster in an instant. Clearly, the effect of (Barrel Dragon) had succeeded.
"Oh no, doesn't that mean Hayato's field is completely defenseless?" Joey said with some worry from the Audience Seating. "If he gets hit with a Direct Attack, it's not looking good."
[(Barrel Dragon)][Level 4/DARK]
[Machine-Type/Effect]
[1700/200]
Seeing Hayato's monster destroyed, though he couldn't see what it was, Bandit Keith noted that it didn't seem to be his most feared (Rainbow Kuriboh). He said smugly, "With that, I can attack you directly."
"(Barrel Dragon), Direct Attack the duelist!"
The mechanism on (Barrel Dragon)'s head had just folded away when it received its controller's next command. Being a machine, it had no complaints. (Barrel Dragon)'s head finished loading, and a bullet shot from its barrel.
But to Bandit Keith's surprise, the bullet struck a suddenly-appeared wall with a loud "Clang!", failing to break through. A hand extended from the wall of sand and stone, caught the bullet, and let out a creature-like howl. It threw the bullet back at Bandit Keith's field, and the attacking (Barrel Dragon) was instead destroyed by the very bullet it had fired.
Even Bandit Keith himself took battle damage as a result.
[Bandit Keith: 4000 LP → 3700 LP]
"What! Where did that monster come from!"
Seeing Bandit Keith's shocked expression, Hayato explained, "The effect of (Sand Moth) is that when this face-down Defense Position card is destroyed by a means other than battle and sent to the Graveyard, its ATK and DEF are swapped, and it is Special Summoned to the Field."
"Guns have always been double-edged swords. You shouldn't get hoist by your own petard, Mister Keith."
[(Sand Moth)][Level 4/Earth]
[Rock-Type/Effect]
[1000/2000 → 2000/1000]
(end of chapter)