Let's play cards! In a fantasy world of swords and magic

The three knights on the Pharaoh's field raised their swords in unison, holding them vertically in front of their brows, assuming a classic battle stance.

With a wave of his hand, the Pharaoh declared his first wave of attacks.

"I'll switch Queen's Knight from defense to attack position, and then all three knights will attack simultaneously!"

The three knights charged toward You Ling's field, their swords slashing in perfect unison, completely disregarding the defense of Yado Karu (DEF: 100!).

Aisha: "ᓫ(°⌑°)ǃ Oh no, oh no! With just one Yado Karu, there's no way to block the attacks of three knights!"

With all three knights on the field by the second turn, the weakest of them, [Queen's Knight], would destroy [Yado Karu], while the other two knights would deal a combined 3500 damage to You Ling, pushing him to the brink of defeat in an instant.

"Don't panic yet, Aisha. I already anticipated the three knights' strategy."

Though they looked cool, the three knights were famously known in the anime as "sacrificial pawns," and You Ling remembered them well.

Thankfully, the Pharaoh didn't follow up with a "I summon the God Card!" and instead stuck to using the three knights for his attacks.

"Even if we're outmatched, we'll fight back with three monsters of our own!"

Lifting Aisha's slender arm, You Ling flipped the trap card he had set last turn.

"—Trap Card activated: Union of the Same Name! By targeting the [Yado Karu] on my field, I can Special Summon two more [Yado Karu] from my deck!"

[Union of the Same Name Trap Card Effect: Target 1 face-up Level 2 or lower Normal Monster on your field; Special Summon as many monsters with the same name as that target from your deck as possible.]

A trap card designed to support weak Level 2 or lower monsters, this card's activation condition required having a weak monster face-up on the field.

This was the real reason You Ling had insisted on summoning [Yado Karu] in face-up defense position last turn.

The -_- mental pollution effect was just a bonus—it wasn't like it would actually do anything useful.

"Come forth, the triple [Yado Karu] to counter the three knights!"

[Yado Karu DEF: 100]

[Yado Karu DEF: 100]

[Yado Karu DEF: 100]

Three tofu blocks successfully formed a pure white wall of weak angels on You Ling's field, standing in the way of the charging knights.

"A fair 3v3 showdown! It's up to you now, Yado Karu!"

[Yado Karu] destroyed.

[Yado Karu] destroyed.

[Yado Karu] destroyed.

K.O~!

What "countering the three knights"? What "fair showdown"? It was all nonsense.

The three [Yado Karu] were annihilated in an instant by the three knights.

With You Ling's field cleared, the Pharaoh set his duel disk aside for a moment.

"These monsters… are they all summoned based on the power system of this world, by Yuna?"

"That's right."

"Then let me ask you, You Ling. What are your thoughts on these exceptionally weak monsters?"

Aisha, inside the Millennium Puzzle, suddenly panicked.

What kind of thoughts could one have about exceptionally weak monsters?

They were just weaklings, trash, not even worth playing—that kind of evaluation, right?

"This is like a public execution! Why are you asking such a sharp question? QAQ"

After a brief moment of thought, You Ling gave his answer.

"I believe that every card, every monster, has its own significance. Rather than obsessing over the fate of being weak or strong, the real question is how to fully utilize their power. This applies to both monsters and duelists."

Aisha: "QvQ So this is how Mr. You Ling sees my monsters… I love you so much (whispered)!"

"Fully utilizing the power of weak monsters, huh? Hehe, You Ling, you truly are the duelist I imagined you to be."

The Pharaoh smiled faintly, though it was unclear whether he was satisfied with You Ling's answer.

"Then let me see the power you can unleash. My turn ends!"

After setting his duel disk down, the Pharaoh ended his turn.

With three knights and one set card on his field, he faced You Ling's empty field.

"My turn, draw."

You Ling glanced at the card he had drawn.

"It's here!"

The Spell Card Polymerization.

If there was one card in Aisha's deck that could unlock the hidden potential of her weak Normal Monsters, it was this newly acquired [Polymerization], a gift from her dear friend Ilin.

Aisha: "It's the [Polymerization] Spell Card! But what can this card even do, Mr. You Ling? My deck doesn't have any heroes—just those weak monsters with no effects."

"That's exactly what we need—weak Normal Monsters for fusion!"

For now, You Ling set the newly drawn [Polymerization] aside in his hand and instead pulled out another Spell Card, slamming it onto the graveyard zone.

"—Spell Card activated: Dark Factory of Mass Production!"

[Dark Factory of Mass Production Spell Card Effect: Target 2 Normal Monsters in your graveyard; add them to your hand.]

"With this Spell Card's effect, I'll return two [Yado Karu] from my graveyard to my hand."

Aisha: "(°Д°) You retrieved two Yado Karu… No way, Mr. You Ling, are you planning to…"

"That's right—fuse the two Yado Karu together! Even the fusion of two weaklings can create a miracle. This is the infinite possibility of fusion!"

Tossing the two [Yado Karu] cards and the [Polymerization] card into the air, the fusion spiral effect expanded in the sky, accepting even the two defenseless tofu blocks.

However, the colossal creature that emerged from the fusion spiral had nothing to do with those tofu blocks anymore.

"Roar——!"

The dragon's roar echoed through the night-shrouded back mountain, shaking the leaves of the forest trees.

Then, a massive azure dragon, even larger than the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Aisha had summoned before, burst out of the fusion spiral with earth-shaking grandeur.

"Roar, the miracle of Normal Monster fusion, the ancient soul of the duel! Fusion Summon—Ancient Dragon!"

[Ancient Dragon ★★★★★★★★★ (9 stars) Dark]

[Dragon-Type/Fusion/Effect ATK: 2700 DEF: 2000]

[While this card is in the Monster Zone, it cannot be destroyed by battle with non-Normal Monsters, and it is unaffected by the effects of other monsters.]

Even in her soul state, Aisha was left speechless, witnessing what could only be described as a miracle of fusion.

"Fusing two [Yado Karu] into this kind of monster… Is that even possible? Mr. You Ling, how did you do it!?"

"You're asking how I did it?" You Ling smirked, using Aisha's lips. "Fusion Summoning is just about meeting the material requirements, after all."

The fusion materials for [Ancient Dragon] were:

"2 Normal Monsters."

To be continued...