"Who is it?"
Zarug cursed the moment someone barged in.
"Dare to trespass into the Black Scorpion Thief Gang's territory!"
But Zik quietly reminded him, "Boss, this is Duel Academy. Strictly speaking, we are the ones who trespassed into their territory..."
Zarug didn't say a word but glared at him fiercely. Zik quickly shrank his head down and stopped talking.
Zarug turned around to face the newcomer and said solemnly, "Kid, what do you mean? You seem to know quite a bit about the Seven-Star Key affair?"
"Haha, I don't actually know much." Yugen chuckled, "But this matter should be common knowledge, shouldn't it? Didn't the person who assigned you the task mention it?"
The sealing of the Phantom Demon indeed requires seven keys, but just inserting the keys into the lock can't break the seal.
Only a Duelist can unlock the seal."
Zarug was stunned, perplexed, and looked at his minions. But the minions all wore a bewildered expression, indicating they were clueless.
"Hmm, now that you mention it, the person who commissioned us did say something significant about the keys at that time." Zarug mused, "But I was too busy counting money then... Did none of you hear it?"
Everyone shook their heads like a rattle.
"I was thinking about how to spend the money at that time." Mina said.
Zik: "I thought you were listening, boss."
Cliff helplessly: "I happened to be absent that day..."
The remaining one was Takaga, burly as a little giant, but his smooth bald head suggested he wasn't very smart, and he was scratching his head in a daze, seemingly not understanding the question.
Zarug sighed deeply.
Our Thief Gang's quality is indeed worrying...
Yugen laughed heartily, "No worries if you don't remember. It's actually quite simple; you have to rely on a duel to get it."
He gestured to the Duel Disc on his hand.
The Seven-Star Key is a wager in a Dark Duel. Taking the key without winning a duel is meaningless. So even if you stole it, you wouldn't be able to break the seal.
Look, my key is right here."
He took out the key hanging around his neck and waved it in front of their eyes. The Black Scorpion members all widened their eyes.
"Boss, this is worth a lot of money!"
"No need for you to say it."
Zarug was also fired up, unable to resist rubbing his hands.
"Fine. But, let me warn you first, my cards are relentless." He mumbled, "I won't be responsible for any injuries."
"Haha, fair enough."
Yugen chuckled.
"However, the key is with me. If I lose, I'll have to hand over the key. If I win, everyone acts like nothing happened. Won't my cards be played in vain?"
Zik thought for a moment and whispered, "Boss, he makes a good point. Aren't we getting a huge advantage here?"
Zarug glared at him angrily again.
"You're talking nonsense again," Zarug said, hating the iron for not becoming steel, "Constantly worrying about others losing out, how can we be thieves like this!?"
"Makes... sense..." Zik shrank his head again, not daring to speak.
"Hm, you do have a point. Our Black Scorpion Thief Gang has a code of conduct. Before being thieves, we're Duelists. A duel has to be fair.
So what are you proposing as stakes?"
Yugen laughed and took out several cards, displaying them.
At this, the group of thieves was shocked once more.
"Boss, those seem like us!"
"Looks like he stole us!"
Zarug slapped Takaga on the forehead, "What do you mean 'we got stolen'? Look carefully, those are just our Duel Monster Cards."
He turned to look at Yugen, frowning.
"Well, now, you turn out to be a Duelist holding our Thief Gang's cards. Quite the fate."
"Indeed, indeed, though I have the cards, I lack the elves. Isn't that a waste?"
Zik's eyes lit up, "Haha, what a coincidence, we happen to have five elves here..."
Zarug gave another smack to his bald head, "Idiot, aren't you? He means if we lose, we're the stakes."
"Oh... oh."
Zik held his head, miserable and not daring to speak.
"That's right," Yugen laughed, "So what does the leader say?"
Zarug glanced at his fellow members, "What do you say?"
"We'll follow the boss's orders!"
The subordinates had no objections.
"Our Black Scorpion Thief Gang share life and death!"
"Alright."
Zarug took a step forward, tore off his coat, and underneath was his Duel Disc, already set for action.
"We, the Black Scorpion Thief Gang accept this duel. Let's go!"
"Duel!" x2
[Yugen, LP 4000]
[Zarug, LP 4000]
"I have the first move, draw card!"
Zarug took the first turn, and upon seeing his hand, he immediately chuckled.
"Great, having this card right from the start is surely a good omen. I'll directly summon myself!
Summon 'Leader - Zarug'!"
He slapped the card onto the Duel Disc but no projection appeared oddly.
"Ahem, because all of us are here in reality, we're personally taking action."
So Zarug, wearing the Duel Disc, jogged from the Duelist position to the Monster Zone personally.
Real self-summoning.
The other subordinates even cheered him on.
"Go, boss!"
Yugen: "..."
To be honest, having elves summon themselves isn't unheard of, but it's mostly like Soga, where they split off a clone to jump into the arena.
Having the duelist himself run onto the track is quite rare...
"Set a card, turn ends!"
"It's my turn, draw card."
Yugen leisurely drew two cards.
"Set two cards, turn ends."
Zarug: "?"
The gang of thieves: "?"
What kind of strategy is this?
Zarug felt something was off, but Takaga confidently said, "He has a bad hand! Great job, boss!"
Is it a bluff?
But the duel must go on regardless. Zarug suppressed his doubts.
"My turn, draw card!" Zarug said, "Activate Magic Card 'Black Scorpion Gathering'!"
As soon as this card was played, the people outside began to enthusiastically prepare.
"It's our turn to enter!"
"Come quickly, you stand there... wrong, wrong, Takaga, come here, the pose positions can't be wrong..."
At this time, Zarug was explaining, "This card can only be activated when there's 'Leader - Zarug' face-up on my field, Special Summon all 'Black Scorpion' monsters from my hand!
I'll Special Summon three thief members from my hand!
Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina!
Black Scorpion - Powerful Takaga!
Black Scorpion - Rapidly Escaping Zik!"
[Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina, Attack Power 1000]
[Black Scorpion - Powerful Takaga, Attack Power 1800]
[Black Scorpion - Rapidly Escaping Zik, Attack Power 1000]
The three quickly ran from outside to the Monster Zone. Only Cliff, who was left behind, froze in his actions and threw up his hands watching four of his teammates take the stage.
"I haven't gotten on board yet!"