Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1680 Yubel - The Hated Knight
(Note: The previous chapter has been revised.)

Yubel pointed at her "Yubel Fairy" card on the Duel Disk: "The monster I want to destroy is myself!"

"Oh!"

The seemingly meaningless action that destroyed him actually made the dark power on Yubel's field even stronger in the next moment. Amon felt that he could hardly stay awake even with his neck being choked, and even when he let go, he could feel the suffocating feeling brought by the excessively thick air.

While the physical body of the Duel Monster card was destroyed, Yubel unleashed an even more powerful force—

"In the event that [Yubel the Spirit] is destroyed, this pain will become my strength, propelling me to evolve to a higher stage!" Yubel sat back on his throne, indicating that he was no longer a Duel Monster, and then took a card from his deck, saying, "Special Summon this card from my hand, graveyard, and Deck!"

Within the black mist on Yubel's field, a pair of demonic wings that had just been curled up suddenly unfurled, revealing the [Yubel Elf] who had reappeared in physical form—no, she had now departed from her pure elven form and become a malicious executor corrupted by the Light of Annihilation—[Yubel] of "Light Wave"!
【尤贝尔：4000LP，手牌4→3→2→1→2→1】

【Yubel】【10☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[0/0]

When Hayato saw that Yubel had summoned him, he became slightly more serious.

Unlike the physical card, the anime version of [Yubel] has a counter-damage effect from the very first phase: "The battle damage taken by the controller of this card becomes 0, and the opponent is dealt that amount of damage." Based on the battle destruction resistance shared by all three phases, which is "not destroyed by battle," it is also a master of counter-damage. Furthermore, it can continue to evolve as it is destroyed by card effects.

Of course, once [Yubel] is banished or its effect is negated, it's done for. Removing it isn't difficult; it's just a nuisance to decks of the same rank that don't have a countermeasure. There's nothing to be wary of regarding Hayato's [Tears of the Gods]—the only downside is that since its effects are mostly continuous and don't require activation, the effect of [Predatory Plant - Rhinoceros Horn Dragon] is basically ineffective.

Hayato got serious for a simple reason—because after revealing himself, Yubel, who only had one card left in his hand, showed his last card!

"I heard you really like collecting cards, don't you? Well then, let me give you a hand. Hayato Kobayashi, use this [Heavenly Treasure Card]!" Yubel sneered as he played the card, and six cards flew out of his deck and he caught them. "Both duelists draw cards from their respective decks until they each have six cards in their hand—and I, who have no cards in my hand, can use this to draw six cards!"

【尤贝尔：4000LP，手牌4→3→2→1→2→1→6】

"Tsk, it's even more painful to see others earn more than me, than to lose cards." Hayato grumbled as he grabbed two cards from the top of his deck and added them to his floating hand. "Now, I'll draw two cards from my deck."

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, hand 5→4→6]

Because of the unknown effect of [Chronicle of Maturity], Hayato gave up his last tricolor card to guard against [Super Polymerization], but he did not expect that the last card in Yubel's hand would be the card-drawing god card [Treasure Card from Heaven].

After drawing the card, Yubel suddenly smiled and said smugly, "It's pointless to deliberately return my [Chronicle of Maturity] to the deck, Kobayashi Hayato. You still haven't changed your fate, have you?"

"Because I just drew this [Chronicles of Maturity] card again, which had just returned to my deck! And I'm going to activate it immediately!"

The Demon Scroll unfurled once more, floating above Yubel's back row. Having missed the appearance of [Hell Graveyard Creeper] and [Yubel], its Chronicle Counters remained at 0. But in the next moment, Yubel suddenly picked up two cards from the graveyard and said, "Just now, Kobayashi Hayato, your [Half-Dragon Maid - Personal Dragon Girl] was quite powerful, wasn't it? But relatively speaking, my power is still superior!"

"Let me show you the power I have gained from devouring the 'Light of Annihilation'—I'm returning the Fiend-Type monster 'Ren of the Demon Realm' in my Graveyard, which has 0 ATK and DEF, and myself—'Yubel the Spirit'—to my Deck!"

Special Summon [Yubel Phantom] from Fusion Deck!

Orange energy surged across Yubel's field, as if to match Hayato's earlier massive Fusion Summoning with almost no Fusion Spell Cards. Yubel also played a Fusion Monster that didn't even need Fusion!

Judging from the level, the 9-star [Yubel Phantom] seems to represent Yubel in the period when he was not fully resurrected, and his body was made entirely of energy.

【Yubel's Phantom】【9☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[0/0]

"This card can only be Special Summoned if a specific monster from my field, hand, or graveyard is returned to my Deck or Fusion Deck. Don't think you're the only one with that. What are you laughing at?"

Yubel was a little confused when he saw Hayato's barely suppressed smile halfway through his sentence.

"Although the new power you evolved using 'Light of Destruction' consists entirely of cards I've never seen before, they're probably new cards that came out after I transmigrated, right? Tsk, you're something else, K-Band." After a pause, Hayato continued, "However, although my system's shop updates a bit slowly, it did manage to add one card to its inventory. Apparently, that card wasn't from a normal card box but was a bonus card from a book?"

"【Yubel Phantom】, right? You're good at recycling deployment materials, you can skip chains and jump automatically, and you can change effects to indirectly counter. You think you're so great? But don't you realize that I specifically made a 【Predator Plant - Spikeleaf Trident Hellflower】 on the field to defend against your skip-chain special move?"

"【Predatory Plant - Spikeleaf Vine Trident Hellflower】Can be activated when your opponent Special Summons a monster from the Extra Deck if it is Fusion Summoned. Negate that Special Summon and destroy that monster!"

"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"

The black smoke surrounding the energy monster, [Yubel Phantom], was originally a manifestation of the dark power released by Yubel. However, at some point, a purple poisonous mist silently spread out within the black smoke. Almost at the same time as [Yubel Phantom] appeared, the poison had already seeped into its body and was completely impossible to remove!

"Hey—!"

From the inside out, [Yuber Phantom] was completely dissolved by the poison as soon as it appeared, rising into smoke and disappearing from Yubel's field, which made Yubel look extremely bad.

"Wow, that monster has such an effect?!" Yubel glared angrily at the [Predatory Plant - Spikeleaf Trident Hellflower], whose roots had just retracted from the ground after releasing its poison, and said coldly, "But how many times can that effect be used? I have more than one [Yubel Phantom] in my Fusion Deck! Its Special Summon wasn't an Effect Special Summon; it doesn't have a one-time-per-turn limit!" "This Field Spell Card, which I couldn't find with [Planetary Modification] before, was drawn in [Heavenly Treasure Card] just now!"

"Hayato Kobayashi, you and the Kaiba Corporation are the perpetrators who drove me out of Earth, but the root cause is Jaden, whom I deeply love. But it doesn't matter. I hate him and I love him, so even now, I will still share this nightmare throne with him—Field Spell Card [Nightmare Throne] activated!"

A rumbling sound came from the ground, and the indoor space was magnified with the participation of the duel rules. A throne rose in Yubel's field and sent him into the sky. The sky throne, which was high in the sky, was quite spacious. Even though Yubel was already standing there, there was still room for at least one more person to stand next to him.

With his wings folded behind him, Yubel sat down lazily, his long legs dangling idly on the edge of the throne. He propped his head up with one elbow on the armrest of the throne and waved his left hand: "Isn't there a saying? 'Heroes have a stage to fight on.' Then I think this is the stage where my nightmares, my hatred, and my love should unfold."

"I felt it. Sitting on this throne in the sky, I felt it—I felt pain I had never felt before, but I think this is perhaps the way Jaden loves me!"

"As part of the effect processing when the Field Spell Card [Nightmare Throne] is activated, I can add a Fiend-Type monster with 0 ATK and 0 DEF from my Deck to my hand, or destroy it."

"I've chosen to destroy the second [Yubel] in my deck!"

Even though Jaden only had one [Yubel] card back then, as a spirit, [Yubel] could easily put several cards of her own power clones in her deck. Another [Yubel] card was taken from the deck by Yubel and sent to the graveyard. After Yubel destroyed her own [Yubel] card, a large black mist suddenly rose up in her graveyard, as if an octopus was spraying ink.

Even without venturing deep into it, Hayato could clearly sense the malevolent energy contained within. Amon, who stared directly into the black mist, felt a throbbing pain in his head, and the feeling of being bewitched by the illusion surged back. He immediately clutched his throat, using the pain to keep himself awake.

But Yubel didn't even bother to praise him for his "good willpower," because unlike before, this time Yubel hadn't deliberately tried to control Amon. It was just that a tiny amount of her own overwhelming power dissipated during the release process, almost causing Amon to fall into the illusion again.

"You can activate this effect when [Yubel] is destroyed by means other than its own effect. Special Summon one [Yubel - The Hated Knight] from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard!"

In the swirling mist, a pair of demonic wings unfurled, the purple poison gas was expelled in advance, and the twisted demon, which had completely detached itself from human form, appeared in the dissipated smoke—its muscles swelled abnormally, causing its joints to dislocate, its ribs pierced through its skin, its exposed abdomen resembled armor, and its limbs mutated into the shape of a beast, not only growing sharp claws but also exhibiting animalistic reverse joints.

However, what's even more eye-catching is [Yubel]'s current head. Where it was originally, only the eyes on its forehead, now gigantic, remain. Two long necks have grown out, each connected to a ferocious dragon head.

"Pain is love, hate is infatuation, loathing is desire! Swallow suffering, embrace destruction, my twisted half!"

"I swore an oath and became his knight. [Yuber - The Hated Knight]!"

【Yuber - The Hated Knight】【11☆/Dark】

[Demon/Special Summon/Effect]

[0/0]

Naturally, the second stage evolved from [Yubel] – [Yubel - The Hated Knight] – is also a monster with the card name [Yubel] recorded on it, and a Chronicle Counter is placed on [Mature Chronicle].

[Chronology of Maturity] [Chronology Indicator 0→1]

"It's not over yet! My pain hasn't been truly released!" Yubel picked up the cards "Hell Graveyard Creeper" and "Yubel" that had just been sent to the Graveyard from his Duel Disk, and said, "Once again, I'm returning 'Yubel' from my Graveyard and the Fiend-Type monster 'Hell Graveyard Creeper' with 0 ATK and DEF on my field to my Deck!"

Hayato's "Tears of the Grave" can continuously recycle resources from the graveyard after being used to expand his deck. Although it is not as versatile as "Tears of the Grave" in terms of being able to move around during other players' turns, in a deck with "Yubel's Phantom" Yubel, it is at least comparable to "Tears of the Grave" in terms of resource recycling.

The energy body's [Yubel Phantom] reappeared on Yubel's field. The effect of [Predatory Plant - Spikeleaf Trident Hellflower] could no longer prevent its appearance because it could only be used once. Another Chronicle Counter was added to [Mature Chronicle].

【Ubel Phantom】【ATK0】

[Chronology of Maturity] [Chronology Indicator 1→2]

"I don't know why you're so insistent on Special Summoning that card, but I'll just negate it for now, okay?" Hayato glanced at the system, which hadn't yet added any cards from the [Yubel] series to the shop and was moving much slower than when he was playing with Light Wave, and felt a little helpless.

However, he didn't really need the system's information; if it wasn't there, it wasn't there. He could just play cards normally.

Thinking this, he flipped over a card in the back room.

"When the Continuous Trap Card [Eternal Evil - Echoing Lament] is activated, if I control a [Tears of Elegy] monster or [Vesas-Staffrost], I can target an Effect Monster on my opponent's field and negate its effect."

As the sonata of the flower-destroying lamentation began, [The Little Mermaid of the Pearl-Tears Clan] sang as it turned into bubbles and disappeared from Hayato's field. Meanwhile, [Yubel Phantom], which had just appeared, also lost its power in an instant, becoming a blank monster with 0 attack power, whose purpose was unclear.

"You bastard!" Seeing that the effect of her painstakingly summoned [Yuber Phantom] had been nullified, Yubel looked like she was about to faint from anger at Hayato. But whether she was as excited as she appeared to be about the nullification of its effect was another matter entirely.

"However, powerful cards often come with great risks. The effect of being able to negate a monster in one turn, the existence of [Eternal Evil - Echoing Lament] requires sending one of my monsters to the graveyard later - I chose [Tears of Elegy Tribe - Little Mermaid].

"What kind of price is that?!"

Amid Yubel's sarcastic remarks, the power of the [Tears of Elegy Clan - Little Mermaid] in Hayato's graveyard takes effect, and the vortex of fusion reopens!

　Fixed a bug where Nightmare's Pain could retrieve Nightmare's Throne. I knew about this setting, but I didn't actually think of it when I was writing this, probably because I don't play Yubel.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)