Yu-Gi-Oh!: Ultimate Duelist

On the rooftop of an empty building, the surroundings were so quiet that one could almost hear the sound of the breeze.

The sun hung high in the sky, and the scorching sunlight poured down, covering the entire roof with a layer of golden glow.

At this moment, Lin Hao, Li Chao, Fan Jianming and Wu Wenfeng stood there quietly, their figures appearing particularly clear under the sunlight.

Everyone's face was filled with varying degrees of anticipation and excitement; they were about to witness a fantastic card duel.

Lin Hao and Li Chao were both concentrating as they simultaneously activated their duel disks. The disks shone with a mysterious light under the sunlight, as if imbued with boundless power.

Then, they swapped decks, their hands expertly flipping through the cards, shuffling them. Each shuffling motion was imbued with a sense of ritual, as if they were making final preparations for the upcoming fierce duel.

After a moment, they looked at each other and said at the same time: "The duel begins."

These four short words, like a battle horn, instantly broke the tranquility on the rooftop, and a thrilling card duel was about to begin.

The two sides of the duel were Lin Hao and Li Chao, and the first attack right of this duel fell into Lin Hao's hands.

"My turn, draw a card."

Lin Hao narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on the card in his hand.

The two mysterious images of [Iron Knight Kia Freed] and [Release of Restrictions] flashed through his mind, but he quickly made a decision.

In this duel, he didn't plan to use these two powerful cards for the time being. Lin Hao seemed to have a different plan in mind. He wanted to give his opponent a few more rounds.

After some careful consideration, Lin Hao calmly said, "In defense mode, summon [Card Guardian] (Attack 400/Defense 400). End of turn."

Fan Jianming, who was watching the game from the side, was puzzled, his brows furrowed, and he asked in confusion: "Why did Haozi summon such a weak monster on the field?"

Wu Wenfeng also fell into deep thought. He glanced around Lin Hao's board and after a moment, he expressed his guess: "I don't know either. I don't seem to have seen Haozi's card before. Maybe he put it in to complete the deck."

Fan Jianming nodded and said in agreement, "That's probably true. Otherwise, who would use such a weak monster?"

Li Chao's eyes widened as he said in surprise, "Haozi, you just summoned this small monster and it's the end of the round?"

Lin Hao shrugged helplessly, spread his hands, and said, "What else can I do?"

Li Chao was speechless and continued, "At least you can defend the monster's back, so I won't know your strengths and weaknesses."

Lin Hao raised his chin slightly and asked, "If I use the back defense to summon this monster, you won't attack?"

Li Chao was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Well, it seems that I will still attack."

Lin Hao continued, "That's it, it doesn't matter. Also, the effect of my monster is that when it is summoned, it must be in front-facing defense."

Li Chao held his forehead and said helplessly: "Such a weak monster has such a useless ability."

Lin Hao shrugged casually, not caring at all.

"Alright then. My turn, draw a card."

Li Chao's voice was full of confidence. He quickly drew a card from the deck, his eyes flashing with anticipation.

"Summon [Armored Lizard] (1500/Defense 1200) in Attack Position."

In an instant, a dark blue humanoid lizard monster appeared on Li Chao's field. The monster's teeth were as sharp as blades, and its claws flashed with cold light, as if it could tear the enemy into pieces at any time.

Its hideous appearance is chilling.

Fan Jianming couldn't help but sigh: "This monster looks very powerful."

Wu Wenfeng also nodded slightly and said, "It seems that Haozi's monster on the field can't be saved."

Li Chao raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a confident smile, and said decisively: "Entering the battle phase, [Armored Lizard] (1500/Defense 1200) attacks [Card Guardian] (Attack 400/Defense 400)."

As soon as Li Chao finished speaking, the blue lizard monster on his field opened its mouth like an arrow, revealing its teeth that gleamed coldly, and rushed towards the monster on Lin Hao's field at an extremely fast speed.

At this critical moment, Lin Hao calmly said, "Activate the effect of [Card Defender]: When this card becomes the target of an attack, you can send up to three cards from the top of your deck to the Graveyard. For each card sent to the Graveyard, this card's DEF increases by 3 until the End Phase."

As Lin Hao quickly sent the three cards in his deck into the graveyard, the shield-holding monster on Lin Hao's field instantly tripled in size.

The shield shone with a mysterious light, as if it possessed infinite power. Li Chao's lizard monster collided with the shield and was flung away by the powerful reaction force.

At this time, Li Chao's health points dropped by 400 points, leaving 3600 points.

Li Chao was surprised when he saw this, his mouth slightly opened as he said, "That's great, Haozi. I didn't expect that this weak monster on your field could actually increase its defense to 1900 points."

Lin Hao smiled and said, "It's okay, it mainly serves a defensive purpose."

"I didn't expect that the weak monster would have such an effect." Fan Jianming said in disbelief, his eyes wide open and his face full of surprise.

"The defense power reaches 1900 points, so to destroy it, we must at least summon a monster with an attack power of more than 2000." Wu Wenfeng analyzed, tapping his chin lightly with his fingers, and fell into deep thought.

"Monsters above 2000 are very rare. I don't know if Li Chao has one." Fan Jianming said.

"Indeed, monsters with normal attack power exceeding 2000 are all high-level monsters. It seems that Haozi's defense work is very good." Wu Wenfeng said.

"But it feels like a waste to throw three cards from the deck into the graveyard every time," said Fan Jianming.

"Oh no, that's bad." Wu Wenfeng suddenly exclaimed, his face becoming solemn.

"What's wrong?" Fan Jianming asked curiously, his eyes full of confusion.

"The monsters on Haozi's field consume too much of his deck. When Haozi's deck is out of cards, he will lose." Wu Wenfeng said, with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Ah! Now that you mention it, it is indeed true. The flaws of this monster Haozi are too obvious." Fan Jianming said, his brows tightly furrowed.