Now, being in the enemy's lair and facing the enemy BOSS in person, there's naturally nothing more to say; both sides will start fighting directly.
However, actually, Youyu is under quite a bit of pressure.
The development of this situation is really not what he planned; he didn't expect Dartz to play so unconventionally.
Normally, shouldn't it be that the villain's minions approach one by one according to their power level, volunteering to be defeated and provide experience, then after the protagonist team beats all the small fries to elites, the BOSS would personally step in?
Who would have thought Dartz wouldn't follow the rules at all, bypassed the minions to provide experience, and directly dragged Youyu over remotely for a BOSS guard fight...
"But I didn't expect you'd choose to solve me first alone."
Before starting the fight, Youyu, while using the System Card Library he carried with him to strengthen and adjust his Card Deck, nonchalantly said.
"If you say it's to first eliminate the biggest threat and strongest target, it should be Yugi... or the nameless Pharaoh, right?"
Dartz stood by, observing Youyu adjusting his Card Deck with one hand on the hip, indifferent.
"The nameless Pharaoh has immense power, but he's quite lost inside right now," he said, "Also, I know everything about Seto and the Pharaoh.
As a Duelist and Extraordinary Ability User, you might indeed be less threatening than that Pharaoh. But as I said before, I dislike surprises."
"I see. Because I'm an opponent without clarity, you want to eliminate me first?"
"Exactly." Dartz replied, "I have other arrangements for the Pharaoh and Seto, and the final battle with them is already part of my planned script.
But unfortunately, my script doesn't include you. So please exit quickly."
"I see." Youyu nodded, acknowledging the point.
Truth be told, taking on Dartz is indeed pressing for Youyu's side.
Dartz's tricks may be tricky, as expected from a card game anime BOSS who likes playing dirty, but he's still indeed very strong.
After all, this is the guy who dared to take on both Yugi and Kaiba in a free-for-all battle rule and even managed to take down President Haima. If Yugi hadn't cheated with that Non-Effect Card given by Pegasus, things might have ended differently.
Even when both Yugi and Kaiba joined forces, they almost couldn't pull through against this BOSS, honestly making it quite challenging for Youyu.
But then why is it only challenging and not unwinnable when it's a BOSS that almost overturned even the two cheaters?
Because in the anime, Dartz managed to suppress the king and president duo due to those cheat cards he printed himself. Those were cards that Yugi and the others had never seen, suffering losses due to unknown effects. Meanwhile, Dartz had full knowledge of their deck builds and usual tactics, hence their tough battle.
However, in this situation, it's the opposite.
Dartz's deck and tactics have been fully displayed in the anime for viewers, and Youyu knows his strategies and trump cards inside out.
This is what gives Youyu an advantage.
Finishing his deck adjustments, Youyu quickly shuffled it, inserting the thick deck into his Duel Disc.
Dartz smiled: "Are you ready?"
Clearly, this BOSS is very confident in his dueling prowess — this can be seen from the original work where he dared to face Yugi and Kaiba's combination alone.
It seems he believes whatever adjustments Youyu makes don't matter; he has absolute confidence in his own strength.
"Yeah." Youyu opened his Duel Disc, "Thanks for waiting, let's start right away."
"Duel!"x2
[Youyu, LP 4000]
[Dartz, LP 4000]
"Looks like I'm going first." It was still the Duel Disc's randomness for turn order, and Dartz took the first turn here, "My turn, draw!"
He glanced at his hand and smiled slightly.
"Summon Orichalcos Kyutora in Attack Position."
A massive brown-bodied, hideous-looking giant appeared on Dartz's field, dragging heavy chains with both hands.
[Orichalcos Kyutora, ATK 400]
"Next, I'll pay 500 Life Points to Special Summon this monster from my hand." Dartz revealed yet another card from his hand, "Orichalcos Chiara, in Defense Position!"
[Dartz, LP 4000 → LP 3500]
After the Life Points were paid, a hedgehog-like creature quickly appeared in front of Dartz, with a massive and disgusting single eye occupying most of its body.
[Orichalcos Chiara, DEF 500]
"And I'll set down a Set Card." Another Set Card appeared by Dartz's feet, "End of turn."
As expected, this was exactly the opening that Youyu remembered.
These two monsters are the core of Dartz's early deck maneuvers, which caused headaches for the king and president in the anime for a long time.
Orichalcos Kyutora, a monster with infinite revival ability. Every time it's destroyed it can immediately revive, and its attack power increases by 500, serving both as an attacker and a shield.
Orichalcos Chiara, which can absorb damage generated from battles between monsters. As long as it's on the field, Dartz takes zero damage from monster battles.
If combined with the Field Magic, The Seal of Orichalcos, the opponent can only attack front-line monsters first and cannot attack monsters placed in the back row. So just by putting Kyutora upfront as a shield and leaving Chiara in the back to absorb damage, the formation is basically invincible.
No matter how the opponent attacks Kyutora, Dartz won't receive damage, and Kyutora's attack power keeps increasing with constant revivals.
From a later perspective, dismantling the infinitely reviving Orichalcos Kyutora isn't all that hard—like using effects to banish it, sending it to the Graveyard without destruction, or bouncing it back to the deck, but these methods became commonplace only as Yu-Gi-Oh! developed over time.
In the DM and subsequent GX eras, these dismantling methods were extremely rare. Even with Youyu's deck, already ahead of its time, there still aren't many ways to dismantle the field other than by "destruction."
This is why Dartz's lineup caused much trouble for the king and president.
If confronting Dartz's lineup for the first time like the anime protagonists, Youyu might also crash and burn around eighty percent of the time.
But it's alright because Youyu asserts they've long been preparing to target this precisely, and see how they'll arrange Dartz's "invincible" formation perfectly.
"My turn, draw!"
Youyu glanced at the card he drew, and his eyes lit up.
Here it comes!
Think your two monsters have Absolute Defense?
Then let's just give you a big surprise over here!
"Dartz, as a token of respect for you as the human leader ten thousand years ago, let me first give you a gift here." Youyu smirked slightly, revealing a card in his hand.
"I'll use your 'Orichalcos Kyutora' and 'Orichalcos Chiara' as tributes to bring you a powerful monster with an attack power comparable to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
Appear! Lava Golem!!"
Dartz: "???"