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Chapter 399: Valon: I Don't Like This Woman
I remember someone saying that when eyes meet, it's a sign that a battle is about to begin.
In any case, Kaiba and the blond-haired man who appeared before him—Rafael—faced off and activated their respective Duel Disks.
Even without a reason, it's normal for Duelists to compete using Duel Monsters. Moreover, Kaiba was convinced that Rafael was someone who had witnessed the car accident. Furthermore, while Kaiba believed the car accident was an accident, Rafael's words, "Are you looking for the one who attacked them?", made him realize it was not.
The noble Angel Warrior and the white Spirit Dragon engaged in an intense battle.
Meanwhile, inside the Kaiba Dome...
"Hmm, I didn't expect it would be my turn to go up?" Valon, who had finished his popcorn, was originally bored watching the Duel still ongoing on the field. Suddenly learning that the next Duel was his made Valon somewhat happy.
It wasn't because he was happy about Dueling. Although Valon's name contains "Dragon," unlike a certain Dragon Obsession, he wasn't addicted to Dueling and only had the minimum level of interest. Commanding Monsters to Attack and Defense was completely uninteresting. The clashes involving Spell Cards and Trap Cards were even more utterly boring to Valon. He was still more interested in simple, direct physical confrontation—meaning fighting.
Because of this preference, the Deck Valon used was also quite unconventional, to the point where he could even go to another series to protect Athena.
The reason Valon felt happy was that after finishing this Duel, his next Duel wouldn't be until the day after tomorrow. Not having to waste time watching boring Duels at the match venue anymore, Valon felt as comfortable as an office worker who gets a month-long vacation after their last meeting.
Because Valon was up immediately after the current Duel ended, he also learned his next opponent was named "Mai Valentine."
"Hmm? That name..." Valon had some memory of "Mai Valentine." She seemed to be an acquaintance of Kobayashi Hayato. Because of their need for the Egyptian God Cards held by Hayato, Rafael had previously analyzed the strength of the people around Hayato for both Valon and Amelda. The three most important people to watch out for were Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, and Joey Wheeler.
Of course, Amelda completely disregarded the others and only thought about Seto Kaiba, while Valon wasn't interested in anyone. However, at the time, Rafael seemed to have mentioned the name "Mai Valentine."
Looking in the direction where he remembered seeing Kobayashi Hayato, Valon quickly spotted Yugi Mutou's distinctive starfish hair sitting there, as well as a blond woman standing up nearby, seemingly preparing to head to the player preparation room before the match to adjust her Deck and prepare for the Duel.
Is that Mai Valentine? She looks like she has a good figure.
Valon raised an eyebrow, watching Mai Valentine's graceful curves with interest. Even Valon could appreciate beautiful women, and Mai Valentine's appearance was truly excellent; even he couldn't help but take a few extra glances.
However, saying he fell in love with Mai Valentine just because of that wasn't the case, as Valon didn't believe in things like love at first sight. He appreciated beautiful women, but he preferred independent women with strong will and firm pursuit. Mai Valentine, based on her appearance, looked like a card dealer on a cruise ship, and Valon wasn't particularly drawn to that.
A few minutes later, on the Duel Field.
Having finished adjusting her Deck, Mai Valentine confidently walked onto the duel platform and also saw her opponent for this Duel, Valon. Being quite sensitive to men's various gazes, she immediately saw the disregard in Valon's gaze. Mai Valentine's first impression of Valon wasn't very good.
"Mai Valentine."
After simply stating her name, Mai Valentine said nothing more. Valon wasn't the first man to look down on her; Mai Valentine, who often lived in America, had seen many chauvinistic guys. In any case, Mai Valentine had enough confidence that she would use her Harpie and Amazoness to prove she was not inferior to men.
"Valon, my name is Valon." Valon, who looked like a European, unexpectedly spoke in extremely standard Japanese, even more standard than Joey Wheeler, who had a slight accent.
Looking at Mai Valentine's confident and resolute expression, Valon nodded approvingly: "Hmm, that gaze is quite good. It looks like this will be a Duel worth watching. However, it's regrettable that the victor will only be me."
"Heh, stop looking down on people, you arrogant guy."
Mai Valentine had no intention of continuing the conversation. Without even waiting for the referee to announce the start of the Duel, she directly inserted her Deck into her Duel Disk and activated it, indicating she had nothing more to say to Valon.
Seeing that Mai Valentine had already activated her Duel Disk, Valon stretched his arms and also activated his Duel Disk: "Instead of just talking tough, you've chosen to let the Duel do the talking? It seems I might be able to raise my opinion of you. You're not the talkative woman I originally thought you were."
"Then..."
"Duel!" x2 As the referee announced the start of the Duel, Valon and Mai Valentine in unison made their duel declaration, simultaneously drew five cards from their Decks.
[Valon: 4000 LP]
[Mai Valentine: 4000 LP]
"I'll take the First Turn! Draw!"
Mai Valentine originally thought that with her past experience, few opponents could beat her to the First Turn. However, she didn't expect the seemingly carefree Valon's hand movements to be not slow at all, even drawing his Card one step faster than her.
"Let me explain beforehand, I'm not some chauvinist, but an egalitarian. I treat everyone the same, no matter who my opponent is." Valon added the drawn cards to his hand, a confident smile on his face, as if he had drawn a good hand. "Similarly, I don't look down on anyone. What you call arrogant remarks..."
"...are merely a pre-announcement of the Duel's outcome."
As he spoke, Valon had already finished thinking about the strategy he would use. He drew two Cards from his hand: "As a test, these two Cards are enough."
"I Summon Command Knight in Attack Position! Then I activate its effect! When Command Knight is successfully Summoned, I can Special Summon another Level 4 or lower Monster from my Hand."
"I'm Special Summoning another Command Knight!"
On Valon's Field, two fully armed warriors, identical like twins, appeared, standing shoulder to shoulder, forming a defense formation.
[Command Knight] [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Warrior-Type / Effect]
[1200 / 400]
"Command Knight? Is he using a Warrior-Type Deck?" Mai Valentine, who knew nothing about Valon, saw him summon two Command Knights onto the Field at once and began to guess his Deck type.
"When Command Knight is on the Field in the Monster Zone, it can use its Effect to protect other Warrior-Type monsters from being chosen as an Attack Target. And when two Command Knights are on the Field at the same time, unfortunately, you won't be able to attack me."
Valon explained Command Knight's defense formation, showing a confident smile.
Mai Valentine frowned slightly: "I see. A single Command Knight on the Field is like a magnet that attracts attacks directed at Warrior-Type monsters. But if two Command Knights are on the Field, the two magnets existing simultaneously instead keep the attracted attacks in the middle."
"But is this level of defense the only source of your confidence?"
Valon shrugged: "This level? Anyway, against you, this level should be enough. I remember your Deck seems to be Harpie and Amazoness, right? If you can break through it, come and try."
"I Set two cards in my Backrow. I end my turn."
[Valon: 4000 LP, hand: 2]
[Command Knight] [ATK 1200]
[Command Knight] [ATK 1200]
[Set Cards] x2
"Then I'll be waiting." Mai Valentine proudly raised her head, like a peacock, just as her name suggests, and drew a card from her Deck. "My Turn! Draw!"
The Card Mai Valentine drew this turn was Elegant Egotist, a Spell Card that allows you to Special Summon other Harpie Lady monsters directly from your Deck, provided there is a Harpie Lady monster on the Field.
But the problem was, if the opponent had two Command Knights, it wouldn't matter how many Harpie Ladies Mai Valentine summoned, because the Harpie Lady Deck Mai Valentine used was best at removing Backrow Cards. Direct battle was too crude for the elegant Harpie Lady.
However, this didn't mean Mai Valentine had no way to deal with Command Knight. It wasn't as if she didn't have cards other than Harpie Lady.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Swords of Revealing Light."
As Mai Valentine inserted the Card into her Duel Disk's Spell & Trap Zone, three massive black light swords suddenly flew out from her Backrow, pinning themselves firmly onto Valon's Field. From the black swords, waves of darkness spread out, flipping the two Command Knights face-down!
"As the effect resolves when Swords of Revealing Light is activated, all face-up monsters on your field are changed to face-down Defense Position. Magnets that have lost their magnetism are just two fragile stones."
Mai Valentine said this triumphantly, wanting to see surprise and shock on Valon's face. But the smile on Valon's lips remained calm and casual. He didn't pay any attention to Mai Valentine at all, not even having the thought to comment on Mai Valentine's counter.
"Hmph."
Feeling more annoyed by being ignored than by being looked down upon, Mai Valentine drew a card: "I Summon Amazoness Fighter in Attack Position! Then I activate the Spell Card, Strange Clover!"
"By sending a Level 4 Plant-Type monster from my Hand to the Graveyard, Amazoness Fighter can attack twice during this Battle Phase!"
I remember someone saying that when eyes meet, it's a sign that a battle is about to begin.
In any case, Kaiba and the blond-haired man who appeared before him—Rafael—faced off and activated their respective Duel Disks.
Even without a reason, it's normal for Duelists to compete using Duel Monsters. Moreover, Kaiba was convinced that Rafael was someone who had witnessed the car accident. Furthermore, while Kaiba believed the car accident was an accident, Rafael's words, "Are you looking for the one who attacked them?", made him realize it was not.
The noble Angel Warrior and the white Spirit Dragon engaged in an intense battle.
Meanwhile, inside the Kaiba Dome...
"Hmm, I didn't expect it would be my turn to go up?" Valon, who had finished his popcorn, was originally bored watching the Duel still ongoing on the field. Suddenly learning that the next Duel was his made Valon somewhat happy.
It wasn't because he was happy about Dueling. Although Valon's name contains "Dragon," unlike a certain Dragon Obsession, he wasn't addicted to Dueling and only had the minimum level of interest. Commanding Monsters to Attack and Defense was completely uninteresting. The clashes involving Spell Cards and Trap Cards were even more utterly boring to Valon. He was still more interested in simple, direct physical confrontation—meaning fighting.
Because of this preference, the Deck Valon used was also quite unconventional, to the point where he could even go to another series to protect Athena.
The reason Valon felt happy was that after finishing this Duel, his next Duel wouldn't be until the day after tomorrow. Not having to waste time watching boring Duels at the match venue anymore, Valon felt as comfortable as an office worker who gets a month-long vacation after their last meeting.
Because Valon was up immediately after the current Duel ended, he also learned his next opponent was named "Mai Valentine."
"Hmm? That name..." Valon had some memory of "Mai Valentine." She seemed to be an acquaintance of Kobayashi Hayato. Because of their need for the Egyptian God Cards held by Hayato, Rafael had previously analyzed the strength of the people around Hayato for both Valon and Amelda. The three most important people to watch out for were Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, and Joey Wheeler.
Of course, Amelda completely disregarded the others and only thought about Seto Kaiba, while Valon wasn't interested in anyone. However, at the time, Rafael seemed to have mentioned the name "Mai Valentine."
Looking in the direction where he remembered seeing Kobayashi Hayato, Valon quickly spotted Yugi Mutou's distinctive starfish hair sitting there, as well as a blond woman standing up nearby, seemingly preparing to head to the player preparation room before the match to adjust her Deck and prepare for the Duel.
Is that Mai Valentine? She looks like she has a good figure.
Valon raised an eyebrow, watching Mai Valentine's graceful curves with interest. Even Valon could appreciate beautiful women, and Mai Valentine's appearance was truly excellent; even he couldn't help but take a few extra glances.
However, saying he fell in love with Mai Valentine just because of that wasn't the case, as Valon didn't believe in things like love at first sight. He appreciated beautiful women, but he preferred independent women with strong will and firm pursuit. Mai Valentine, based on her appearance, looked like a card dealer on a cruise ship, and Valon wasn't particularly drawn to that.
A few minutes later, on the Duel Field.
Having finished adjusting her Deck, Mai Valentine confidently walked onto the duel platform and also saw her opponent for this Duel, Valon. Being quite sensitive to men's various gazes, she immediately saw the disregard in Valon's gaze. Mai Valentine's first impression of Valon wasn't very good.
"Mai Valentine."
After simply stating her name, Mai Valentine said nothing more. Valon wasn't the first man to look down on her; Mai Valentine, who often lived in America, had seen many chauvinistic guys. In any case, Mai Valentine had enough confidence that she would use her Harpie and Amazoness to prove she was not inferior to men.
"Valon, my name is Valon." Valon, who looked like a European, unexpectedly spoke in extremely standard Japanese, even more standard than Joey Wheeler, who had a slight accent.
Looking at Mai Valentine's confident and resolute expression, Valon nodded approvingly: "Hmm, that gaze is quite good. It looks like this will be a Duel worth watching. However, it's regrettable that the victor will only be me."
"Heh, stop looking down on people, you arrogant guy."
Mai Valentine had no intention of continuing the conversation. Without even waiting for the referee to announce the start of the Duel, she directly inserted her Deck into her Duel Disk and activated it, indicating she had nothing more to say to Valon.
Seeing that Mai Valentine had already activated her Duel Disk, Valon stretched his arms and also activated his Duel Disk: "Instead of just talking tough, you've chosen to let the Duel do the talking? It seems I might be able to raise my opinion of you. You're not the talkative woman I originally thought you were."
"Then..."
"Duel!" x2 As the referee announced the start of the Duel, Valon and Mai Valentine in unison made their duel declaration, simultaneously drew five cards from their Decks.
[Valon: 4000 LP]
[Mai Valentine: 4000 LP]
"I'll take the First Turn! Draw!"
Mai Valentine originally thought that with her past experience, few opponents could beat her to the First Turn. However, she didn't expect the seemingly carefree Valon's hand movements to be not slow at all, even drawing his Card one step faster than her.
"Let me explain beforehand, I'm not some chauvinist, but an egalitarian. I treat everyone the same, no matter who my opponent is." Valon added the drawn cards to his hand, a confident smile on his face, as if he had drawn a good hand. "Similarly, I don't look down on anyone. What you call arrogant remarks..."
"...are merely a pre-announcement of the Duel's outcome."
As he spoke, Valon had already finished thinking about the strategy he would use. He drew two Cards from his hand: "As a test, these two Cards are enough."
"I Summon Command Knight in Attack Position! Then I activate its effect! When Command Knight is successfully Summoned, I can Special Summon another Level 4 or lower Monster from my Hand."
"I'm Special Summoning another Command Knight!"
On Valon's Field, two fully armed warriors, identical like twins, appeared, standing shoulder to shoulder, forming a defense formation.
[Command Knight] [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Warrior-Type / Effect]
[1200 / 400]
"Command Knight? Is he using a Warrior-Type Deck?" Mai Valentine, who knew nothing about Valon, saw him summon two Command Knights onto the Field at once and began to guess his Deck type.
"When Command Knight is on the Field in the Monster Zone, it can use its Effect to protect other Warrior-Type monsters from being chosen as an Attack Target. And when two Command Knights are on the Field at the same time, unfortunately, you won't be able to attack me."
Valon explained Command Knight's defense formation, showing a confident smile.
Mai Valentine frowned slightly: "I see. A single Command Knight on the Field is like a magnet that attracts attacks directed at Warrior-Type monsters. But if two Command Knights are on the Field, the two magnets existing simultaneously instead keep the attracted attacks in the middle."
"But is this level of defense the only source of your confidence?"
Valon shrugged: "This level? Anyway, against you, this level should be enough. I remember your Deck seems to be Harpie and Amazoness, right? If you can break through it, come and try."
"I Set two cards in my Backrow. I end my turn."
[Valon: 4000 LP, hand: 2]
[Command Knight] [ATK 1200]
[Command Knight] [ATK 1200]
[Set Cards] x2
"Then I'll be waiting." Mai Valentine proudly raised her head, like a peacock, just as her name suggests, and drew a card from her Deck. "My Turn! Draw!"
The Card Mai Valentine drew this turn was Elegant Egotist, a Spell Card that allows you to Special Summon other Harpie Lady monsters directly from your Deck, provided there is a Harpie Lady monster on the Field.
But the problem was, if the opponent had two Command Knights, it wouldn't matter how many Harpie Ladies Mai Valentine summoned, because the Harpie Lady Deck Mai Valentine used was best at removing Backrow Cards. Direct battle was too crude for the elegant Harpie Lady.
However, this didn't mean Mai Valentine had no way to deal with Command Knight. It wasn't as if she didn't have cards other than Harpie Lady.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Swords of Revealing Light."
As Mai Valentine inserted the Card into her Duel Disk's Spell & Trap Zone, three massive black light swords suddenly flew out from her Backrow, pinning themselves firmly onto Valon's Field. From the black swords, waves of darkness spread out, flipping the two Command Knights face-down!
"As the effect resolves when Swords of Revealing Light is activated, all face-up monsters on your field are changed to face-down Defense Position. Magnets that have lost their magnetism are just two fragile stones."
Mai Valentine said this triumphantly, wanting to see surprise and shock on Valon's face. But the smile on Valon's lips remained calm and casual. He didn't pay any attention to Mai Valentine at all, not even having the thought to comment on Mai Valentine's counter.
"Hmph."
Feeling more annoyed by being ignored than by being looked down upon, Mai Valentine drew a card: "I Summon Amazoness Fighter in Attack Position! Then I activate the Spell Card, Strange Clover!"
"By sending a Level 4 Plant-Type monster from my Hand to the Graveyard, Amazoness Fighter can attack twice during this Battle Phase!"
