"Believe in the cards. Just believe."
Raphael saw that Johnny was about to fall into confusion and immediately spoke to him. He believed that since he had become Johnny's teacher, he had an obligation to immediately correct him, even if Johnny's performance in this Duel would be downgraded in Pegasus's eyes because of his help.
In Raphael's eyes, Pegasus's unfinished Card might be powerful and hold special significance for Johnny, but comparatively, Johnny himself was more important to him.
"As you believe in the cards, they will also respond to you."
"Teacher, but I truly believe in the cards. I've tried hard to believe in them." Johnny's expression was a bit dejected. "I've tried hard to listen to their voices, attempting to feel their Heart, but not a single card has responded to me."
"And I've started to waver; I didn't even use Giant Spider's Effect."
"Then, are you choosing to forfeit here?" Raphael asked with a serious expression.
"Hey, Raphael, you're being too strict with a kid!" Joey couldn't stand it and tried to call out to Raphael, but Atem next to him held him back.
"Why are you holding me back, Yugi—no, Atem?"
Atem shook his head, looked at Johnny, and said, "Raphael will handle it."
[Hayato: 4000 LP, 1 Hand Card]
[Invoked Mechaba ATK 2500]
[Nibiru, the Primal Being ATK 3000]
After Hayato ended his Turn, it was Johnny's. The ten-year-old boy raised his left hand, wearing a Duel Disk, and his empty right hand reached for the top card of his Deck. Shaking his head, he said, "In my hand, there isn't a single card that can create victory, yet Mr. Hayato's Field has two powerful monsters. All hope rests on this Draw."
"But, a Duel Monster's Draw is like a tennis ball bouncing off the net; no one knows which side it will land on, nor what kind of card will be Drawn." Johnny looked at Raphael and said, "But, unlike you, Teacher, and Mr. Hayato, you can fight alongside your Duel Monster Spirits and receive their responses, yet I can't hear even a single sound from my Deck."
"A True Duelist can even decide the future of their Draws themselves, but I can't do that. I can't pull off a Draw that only has a one-in-ten-thousand chance. I can't do anything."
As he spoke, Johnny was dejected. Upon hearing this, Raphael, however, spoke again and reprimanded, "Idiot, does that mean a Duelist can't Duel if they can't hear the voice of their cards? How highly do you regard your own talent, Johnny!"
"A Duelist's Draw is indeed a tennis ball bouncing off the net. If a God of destiny existed, perhaps the result of the Draw could only be left to him to decide. But God doesn't exist; only us Duelists, living in this world, do." Clenching his fist, Raphael warned, "The tennis ball will ultimately favor the side that clearly defines their Will and desires victory, and your Deck will also respond to you when you are no longer confused."
"If you're confused, you can't Draw, so just believe in your Deck, Johnny!"
As Raphael's words fell, a stunned Johnny lowered his head and glanced at his Deck.
Don't Draw if you're confused? That means one must clarify their desires and Will to receive the favor of victory. Without a doubt, even against him, Mr. Hayato, as a True Duelist, displayed his Will to win, whereas Johnny himself could only put on such an unconvincing Duel.
How disgraceful!
Clarify your wish! He was naturally incredibly clear about his own wish: it was—
Thinking this, Johnny closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted, "My Turn! If this is the Draw that decides victory or defeat, then I want to win! I want the victory that can fulfill my wish!"
"Respond to me, Deck! Then, Draw!"
He fiercely Drew a card, maintaining the Draw motion as he flipped the card in his Hand to reveal it to himself. The card he Drew was a powerful Spell Card!
"Is this a miracle?" Johnny was somewhat incredulous that he had actually Drawn a powerful Spell Card, limited to only one copy, from his Deck at this precise moment. But his gaze became firm. "No, this is the voice of the Deck! It's the response of the slumbering Duel Monster Spirits to me!"
"I, Johnny Anderson, have a dream! I want to become a link between humans and Duel Monster Spirits! For my ideal, here I come, Mr. Hayato!"
Hayato, looking at Johnny's eyes, which clearly showed growth, also nodded approvingly. "A good gaze! Then come at me with all you've got, Johnny!"
"In my Main Phase, I Activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn! From either player's Graveyard, I Special Summon one monster to my Field." Johnny said, "I'm sorry for letting you be sacrificed in vain before. Now, revive once more and fight for me, Giant Spider!"
The Ankh Rune appeared, and the ground cracked open, allowing Giant Spider, which had previously been shattered by Invoked Mechaba, to return from Johnny's Graveyard through the fissure, in Attack Position.
[Giant Spider ATK 0]
"Hmm? You chose to Special Summon a weak Insect using Monster Reborn?" Hayato raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised Johnny would use this card this way. "Anything that has already been defeated by me will no longer be a threat to me, Hayato."
"Ah, I understand. Giant Spider is no match for your powerful monsters, Mr. Hayato, just like me. But should I call it guilt? I don't want Giant Spider to continue slumbering in the Graveyard because of my previous mistake." Johnny said, then played another card. "My resolve is only now beginning to show! Let's go, together with my cards!"
"I Activate the Continuous Spell Card Giant Ballgame! And then I will Activate the last card in my Hand!"
When he heard Johnny say "the last card," Hayato also widened his eyes somewhat, clearly seeing the green-bordered Spell Card that Johnny held above his head—Card of Sanctity.
"This is my Deck's response to me! The Spell Card Card of Sanctity allows both players to Draw until they have six cards in their hand! Because I have no hand, I can Draw six cards at once!"
Full of aura, Johnny drew a full hand of cards. Meanwhile, Hayato, feeling that "seeing others gain card advantage is more uncomfortable than suffering card disadvantage himself," said somewhat sourly, "Because I only have one Aleister the Invoker in my hand, I can only Draw five cards."
"But, Johnny, you shouldn't have forgotten the Invoked Mechaba on my Field, right? Just now, due to my hand's limitation, its Effect could only negate and banish monsters. While your Card of Sanctity certainly allowed you to Draw a full six cards, comparatively, I also replenished all three types of cards: Spell, Trap, and Monster!"
Looking at the Invoked Mechaba on the Field, holding its lance, ready to attack at any moment, Hayato seemed to be threatening, but was actually intentionally reminding Johnny:
"Just Giant Spider alone can't possibly be my opponent. What kind of combo or board development will you have next? A monster or a spell? No matter what it is, the time needed to crush your resistance before Invoked Mechaba won't even be one second!"
Johnny nodded. "Ah, that's right. But Mr. Hayato, Invoked Mechaba's Effect is once per Turn, right? Although it's an all-powerful and severe negate and banish ability, as long as I lure it out with a card that must be negated before the critical combo/board development, it will be fine!"
As he spoke, he played a card, and lightning and thunder immediately flashed above Hayato's head.
"The Spell Card Raigeki! It destroys all monsters on the opponent's Field! And now, let your Invoked Mechaba negate and banish Raigeki, Mr. Hayato!"
Looking at Johnny, who was convinced that Hayato would act as he expected, Hayato curled his lips. "Although he seems to have become more confident, he's also become a bit annoying."
"Then, Invoked Mechaba, as he wishes, I Send the Spell Card Super Polymerization from my hand to the Graveyard, and tear apart Raigeki!"
Casually Sending the Super Polymerization, which he likely wouldn't use in this Duel, to the Graveyard, light bloomed on the tip of Invoked Mechaba's lance on Hayato's Field, violently shooting into the sky to directly tear apart the not-yet-fully gathered thunderclouds.
Although he was baited into a negate, Raigeki had to be met with Invoked Mechaba's Effect. After all, if his monsters were destroyed, then this Effect activation would also be wasted.
Looking at Invoked Mechaba, which had lowered its lance, Johnny also showed a smile. "Nice! In that case, I can confidently use Giant Ballgame's Effect."
"Hmm?" Hayato raised an eyebrow, recalling that before Johnny Activated Card of Sanctity, he indeed played a Continuous Spell Card onto the Field. So it wasn't just to clear his hand to Draw an extra card?
Looking at the prominent Insect-Type Normal Monsters like Basic Insect, Spider Monster, and Cockroach Knight from the early Duel Monsters era on the card art of Giant Ballgame in Johnny's Backrow, it almost explicitly indicated that this card provided support for Insect-Type monsters. Unfortunately, Hayato had never really played an Insect-Type Deck, and the only Insect-Type user he knew was Weevil, who had long been defeated, so he didn't know this card's effect.
And Johnny had already begun his official combo development. "The first Effect of Giant Ballgame is: During my Main Phase of the Turn this card was Activated, I can Special Summon one Level 6 or lower Insect-Type monster from my Graveyard. However, since only one of its two Effects can be used once per Turn, I chose to Special Summon Giant Spider with Monster Reborn."
As he spoke, Johnny Drew a card from his hand and showed it to Hayato; it was an Insect-Type Monster Card. "The second Effect of Giant Ballgame: Reveal this Insect-Type Monster Card, Humongous Hive Hegemon - Zexstagger, from my hand to you, Mr. Hayato, then Target one face-up monster on your opponent's Field and one Insect-Type monster on my Field whose Attack is lower than the revealed monster's Attack."
The Level 8 Humongous Hive Hegemon - Zexstagger in Johnny's hand, which looked impressive, surprisingly had a somewhat low Attack, only 1500 ATK, half of Blue-Eyes White Dragon's 3000 ATK, basically classifying it as a "fodder monster with 1500 ATK or less."
However, even so, the Giant Spider on his Field had an even lower Attack, 0 ATK. Thus, Johnny successfully targeted for the Effect: Giant Spider and Nibiru, the Primal Being on Hayato's Field.
This gave Hayato a sudden bad premonition.
Johnny suddenly picked up the Giant Spider card. "So now, because of Giant Ballgame's Effect, control of the two targeted monsters is exchanged! Please take good care of Giant Spider for me, Mr. Hayato, and I will make good use of your Nibiru, the Primal Being!"
"Nani!?"
Under Hayato's bewildered gaze, a blurry phantom appeared on his and Johnny's Fields respectively, each grabbing Giant Spider and Nibiru, the Primal Being, the two monsters. Immediately after, just like a forced Pokémon communication exchange, the two phantoms threw the two monsters to the opposite side like throwing baseballs!
Watching "the meteor" Nibiru, the Primal Being land on his Field, Johnny held up two fingers and said triumphantly, "I got Nibiru, the Primal Being!"
In contrast, Hayato, watching his huge meteor turn into a cowering Giant Spider, was furious. "Damn it! I'm the only one who Mind Controls other people's monsters! You actually Mind Controlled my monster! Unforgivable, Be—Raphael! What have you taught this kid?!"
"That's truly a classic case of double standards," Marik quipped.
Atem on the side, however, shrugged. "Card exchanges, or similar, appearing in Johnny's hands after being taught by Raphael, isn't surprising at all to me."
After the Doma incident began, in Atem's second Duel with Raphael since the KC Cup, Raphael had used Card Exchange to forcibly exchange cards with Atem, forcefully pushing The Seal of Orichalcos onto Atem, almost exactly like the current situation.
However, there seemed to be a slight change in the Nibiru, the Primal Being that appeared on Johnny's Field.
[Nibiru, the Primal Being Rock-Type → Insect-Type]
"Monsters that I gain control of due to Giant Ballgame's Effect will become Insect-Type! And then, because I have an Insect-Type monster in Attack Position on my Field, I Special Summon Dream Cicada - Sleepy Mien from my hand!"
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(end of chapter)I think people don't understand it. I have a personal website where I post advanced free chapters — there are 10 new chapters per day, so you can check it out here: soollhooaf.com