Three set cards appeared in Alpha's Back Row. "Next, I activate the Continuous Spell 'Mirage of Nightmare' from my hand! During the opponent's Standby Phase, I draw from my Deck until I have four cards in my hand!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Yugen glanced at the three set cards in the other side's back row. Judging by the setup, those cards might have been placed there simply to increase the number of cards replenished into the hand. If he had to guess, at least one of them was probably Emergency Provisions.
"By the way, 'Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords' has another effect." Alpha let out a cold laugh. "While I have a Level 7 or 8 Dragon on my field, among all monsters Special Summoned by either of us, only monsters that were Special Summoned from the Graveyard can use their effects. Any monsters Special Summoned from anywhere other than the Graveyard have their effects negated for the turn they are Summoned!" (ANIME EFFECT)
Yugen gave a small nod. "That really is a pain."
"Hmph." Alpha folded his arms again and snorted. "If you do not want to keep getting beaten senseless, you still have time to surrender and join us now."
Yugen studied the way he stood and posed, then thought for a moment. "Do you realize that the way you talk, and even some of your movements, are a lot like Seto Kaiba?"
"Oh? So you noticed already?"
Alpha gave a light laugh and lifted his chin. "That's right. I am..."
"Seto Kaiba's crazed fan?" Yugen cut in.
"That's right, I am Seto Kaiba's crazed fan... pah!"
Alpha's face darkened after he nearly got dragged into the rhythm. "What nonsense! I am the latest generation AI designed with Seto Kaiba as the template, codename Alpha. Seto Kaiba is destined to be replaced by us, and we will guide Kaiba Corporation back onto the correct path!"
Yugen fell silent.
Hearing that villainous speech, his first reaction was not surprise or shock. Instead, an old saying rose in his mind by instinct. If only this guy had eaten a few peanuts.
Yugen looked the figure in front of him up and down. Now that it had been pointed out, the man really did feel mechanical, even with his body wrapped tight and his face hidden. He gave off the unmistakable impression of a robot.
Seto Kaiba's AI? Yugen immediately thought of the AI at White Dragon Park that had been beaten until its system crashed. The other side seemed to read his thoughts and let out a proud snort.
"Do not compare me to those inferior computers at Kaiba Corporation. They can barely be called Duel programs, just clumsy imitations of Duelist tactics, and they do not possess anything that could be called a heart."
"We are different. We are not copies. We were designed with Seto Kaiba as the model, our personalities, tactics, and experience analyzed from him, and from that foundation we evolved self-awareness of our own. In the endless process of evolution, every update makes us stronger and more outstanding."
He paused there, apparently thinking of some teammate who had learned only Student Council arrogance and almost nothing else. When he spoke again, his tone weakened slightly.
"Well, overall, we are more outstanding."
Yugen said, "Then where is your Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
Alpha stiffened. His voice turned gloomy. "I already said I'm not Seto Kaiba. I was only designed with him as the base. I have my own tactics."
Yugen said, "Then where is your Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
Alpha finally snapped. "Didn't I just say I'm not Seto Kaiba? Are you deaf? Why do you keep bringing up Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
"If you don't have it, then you don't have it. Nothing shameful about that." Yugen shrugged. Alpha fell silent.
Even so, Yugen was a little surprised that this really was an AI built from the president as a template. From the way the other man spoke, it sounded as if they were mass-produced rather than a single unit. He remembered that Yako Tenma had also said he suspected the hackers attacking Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusions were some unknown AIs.
This group was most likely the culprit. In that case, the "Father" this man mentioned was probably the designer of these AIs, and possibly the mastermind behind everything. But since they were AIs, it was strange that they were not using data cards like the program at White Dragon Park.
Thinking back to the theory he had heard when Yako Tenma and Mokuba Kaiba were talking, Yugen guessed that data cards might limit the use of the power of destiny. If a self-aware AI could also obtain something similar to a real Duelist's power of destiny, then using simulated data instead of real Card might indeed affect it, since Duel Monsters Card themselves had extraordinary properties.
"... My Turn!, Card Draw." He could not stay distracted for too long in a Duel, so Yugen refocused on the field.
"Standby Phase, the effect of Mirage of Nightmare," Alpha said. "Until my hand becomes four cards, I draw from my Deck." He drew until he had four cards in hand.
"Open the set card." Yugen activated his Back Row. "Continuous Trap Powerful Rebirth. It Special Summons a Level 4 or lower monster from the Graveyard, then raises that Monster's Level by 1 and its ATK by 100." (ANIME EFFECT)
He pulled a card that slid out of the Duel Disk Graveyard. "I revive this card from the Graveyard - Mythical Beast Cerberus!"
Mythical Beast Cerberus, ATK 1400 -> ATK 1500. "Because it was Special Summoned from the Graveyard, its Monster effect is not negated by Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords." As he spoke, Yugen played another spell.
"Spell Card Reinforcement of the Army. I add a Level 4 Warrior from my Deck to my hand, and I choose Gearfried the Iron Knight." Yugen took the searched monster card into his hand.
"Then I activate a Spell Card! Pot of Greed. I banish three Spell Cards in my Graveyard - Reinforcement of the Army, Card Destruction, and Spell Card Hidden Armory, which was discarded by Card Destruction - and draw two cards." (ANIME EFFECT) Yugen drew two cards.
"Then I Normal Summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Gearfried the Iron Knight, ATK 1800.
Alpha said in a low voice, "No matter how many trash Monsters you bring out..."
Before he could finish, Yugen cut him off. "You call yourself an AI modeled after the president, but your sharpness in judging the direction of a Duel doesn't even seem to reach one ten-thousandth of his."
Alpha flared up at once. "What did you say?"
"Ah, sorry. Just talking to myself. You can ignore it." Yugen smiled and drew out the card he had searched last turn.
"I activate the Equip Spell Butterfly Dagger - Elma and equip it to Gearfried the Iron Knight, giving it 300 ATK," Yugen said. "But then Gearfried the Iron Knight's own effect activates. Any Equip Card equipped to it is destroyed, so Butterfly Dagger - Elma is Destroyed."
"At that moment, the effect of Mythical Beast Cerberus on the field activates. When a Spell Card is Activated, it gains one Spell Counter, and its ATK increases by 500 for each Spell Counter it has." Mythical Beast Cerberus, ATK 1500 -> ATK 2000.
"Then Butterfly Dagger - Elma's own effect activates. When this card is Destroyed, it returns to the hand. Next, I activate Butterfly Dagger - Elma again and equip it to Gearfried the Iron Knight..."