Yu-Gi-Oh!: Starting as a Rabbit-Eared Demon King

The KC Cup began amidst a media frenzy surrounding Seto Kaiba, with professional league players fiercely battling it out for rankings.

Some dark horses that suddenly emerged broke through the ranks, gained a lot of fans, and achieved rankings.

The final nine names have finally been revealed: Rebecca, the current U.S. champion (I personally think she's not very important, since we removed her romantic subplot with her boyfriend), the Masked Duelist, Qigu Lloyd, Mai Peacock, the young prodigy twins, Ryan Wilson, and Ed Phoenix.

After a lengthy round-robin tournament, the rankings were finally determined. Ed Phoenix stormed through the competition, achieving a perfect score to secure fourth place, followed closely by Peacock Dance in fifth, just one point behind.

Rein ranked sixth, the Masked Duelist ranked seventh, Qigu Lloyd ranked eighth, and Rebecca ranked ninth.

"Faction assignments!" Seto Kaiba looked at Edward Phoenix, who was ranked first, and asked, "Which faction do you want to join?"

"Duel King faction!" Ed Phoenix pointed at Li Youming: "My goal is to fight the Demon King! With my Hero Deck!"

"Ed, have you already shown your talent?" Looking at the very young Ed Phoenix, Li Youming was also intrigued. He didn't mind giving this little guy some pointers.

"According to the rules, Ed Phoenix, Qigu Lloyd, and Rebecca join the Duelist Kings' team! Mai Peacock, Rain Wilson, and the Masked Duelist join the Demon King's team!"

Seto Kaiba waved his hand and announced, "The elimination round order is set. First match! Ed Phoenix vs. The Masked Duelist! Players, please submit your decks. The first match will begin in half an hour."

After the previous round-robin tournament, the atmosphere had reached its climax. Both the audience and the professional duelists ranked below ninth were eagerly anticipating today's "Double Kings Showdown."

Half an hour later, Ed Phoenix and the masked duelist stood on the field. The masked duelist's figure caught Little's attention.

"Within the castle, why does this masked duelist's figure look so familiar?"

“I think so too.” Jonouchi rubbed his chin, pondering who this person was, after hearing what his cousin said.

"Isn't this Old Master Shuangliu?" Li Youming looked at the two of them helplessly. He couldn't even tell that they were old men with starfish-like white hair and short, fat figures.

“Really!” x2, Komatsu and Jonouchi said in unison.

"Let's watch Grandpa Shuangliu's match," Li Youming said with great interest.

"Duel!" "Duel!"

Ed Phoenix: 4000

Masked Duelist (Sugoroku Muto): 4000

"I'll take the lead if I go first, draw a card!" Edward immediately drew a card and summoned it to the field in defense position: "Normal Summon Elemental HERO Clayman (800/2000) in defense position, then set two more cards face down, end turn!"

Ed Phoenix's hand: 3

"My turn, draw!" The masked duelist said after drawing a card: "I summon Wandering Mummy in Attack Position (1500/1500), and activate the Spell Card, Nightmare Mirage. During my opponent's Standby Phase, I draw up to 4 cards in my hand. During my Standby Phase, I randomly discard the number of cards drawn by that effect from my hand."

"I activate a Quick-Play Spell Card, Offering to the Dead. You can target 1 face-up monster on the field to activate this effect. Destroy that face-up monster. Skip your next Draw Phase."

The masked duelist pointed a large hand: "Destroy your Elemental Hero - Nendoroid!"

Elemental Hero - Clayman lay directly on the offering bed and crumbled into dust amidst sacred music.

"I guessed you'd have a hero mark, but I won't trigger it unless I destroy your monsters in battle. Wandering Mummy Attack! Corpse Poison!"

The mummy opened its large mouth and spewed out a cloud of green miasma, completely surrounding Edward.

Ed Phoenix: 4000-2500

"Face three cards, end turn!" The masked duelist immediately used up all his cards, leaving him staring blankly at Ed Phoenix.

Masked Duelist's Hand: 0

"My turn, draw!" The masked duelist interrupted Ed Phoenix as soon as he glanced at the newly drawn card.

"Based on the effect of Nightmare's Mirage, I will draw four cards during your preparation phase!" With that, the masked duelist drew four cards from his hand.

"Spell Card: Survival of a Warrior - You can target 1 Warrior-Type monster in your Graveyard; add that Warrior-Type monster to your hand." Aide retrieved Elemental HERO Clayman from his Graveyard and immediately played a spell card.

"Magic Card Fusion! Fusion of Elemental HERO Clayman and Elemental HERO Electroman to Special Summon Elemental HERO Thunder Giant (2400/1500) in Attack Position!"

"Open your face-down card, and your family will be destroyed!" The masked duelist seized the opportunity to activate his face-down card: "You can discard 1 Spell Card from your hand, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Destroy that face-up monster. After that, if you have cards in your opponent's hand, check their hand and send all cards with the same name as the destroyed card to the Graveyard."

“Open the face-down card, the bribe from the Demon Palace.” Edphinix remained completely calm: “This can only be activated when the opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card. Negate that activation and destroy it. The opponent draws 1 card.”

The masked duelist, undeterred by his lack of success, calmly drew a card.

"Activate the effect of Elemental HERO - Thunder Giant! You can discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-up monster on the field whose original ATK was lower than this card's ATK. This effect can only be used once per turn during your Main Phase."

"I discard a card to destroy your wandering mummy! Lightning Smash!"

The elemental hero, Thunder Giant, reached out his massive hand to the bewildered mummy, unleashing blinding lightning that instantly reduced the mummy to dust.

"Elemental Hero - Thunder Giant, direct attack, lightning strike!"

Elemental Hero - Thunder Giant clasped his hands together, and a bolt of lightning condensed between them. Then, Elemental Hero - Thunder Giant pushed his palms forward, unleashing a surge of lightning that shot straight at the masked duelist.

"Activate Faceless Card to neutralize attacks! This effect can be activated when an opponent's monster declares an attack, targeting that attacking monster. Negate that attack. Then, the Battle Phase ends!"

The lightning struck the light shield but did not harm the masked duelist.

"End of turn!" Edward was not upset that the Elemental Hero - Thunder Giant's attack failed, and calmly ended the turn.

Ed Phoenix's hand: 0

"My turn, draw!" Just as the masked duelist drew his hand, Edward reminded him, "You should discard cards during your preparation phase."

"No need, just open the card, it's delicious!"