Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1682 The Tears of the Abhidharma, Uniting Here!
[Yuber: 4000LP, hand 4→2]

【Ubel Phantom】【ATK0】

【Yubel】【ATK0】

[Original Life Form Derivative] [DEF9300]

【Yubel - The Extremely Sad Dragon】【ATK0】

Backcourt: [Nightmare of Pain] [Chronicle of Maturity (Chronicle Indicator 4→5)]

Location: Nightmare Throne

"Special Summon a monster to my field?" Hayato looked at the obstructive giant iron figure that had appeared on his field, kicked its foot, but couldn't budge it.

“That’s right! Because, just as you understand it, I rely heavily on reflecting damage to win, which makes it easy for situations like yours, where you dropped this [Primal Life Form - Nibiru], to occur.” Yubel said smugly, “[Undead Torture Giant] can effectively solve this problem.”

"Its attack power is a whopping 3000 points! As long as I attack it with my [Yubel] and [Yubel Phantom], under the effect of [Nightmare Pain], all battle damage to me from battles I—that is, [Yubel] monsters—will be taken by my opponent!"

In Duel Monsters, damage calculation effects have a specific priority. Damage generated during monster battles is calculated in order, with the highest priority being effects like "Damage is doubled" (such as Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon), followed by effects like "Battle Damage is shared by both duelists" (such as Blade of the Fragile), and then effects like "Battle Damage Received by the Monster is Shared by the Opponent" (such as Yubel).

The subsequent orders are: "Treat combat damage as effect damage", "Restore base points based on combat damage value", "Combat damage becomes 0", "Combat damage is halved", "Combat damage is doubled", "Combat damage will be a specific constant value", and "Cannot be affected by combat damage higher or lower than a specific constant value". However, after triggering the sixth order "Combat damage will be 0", the subsequent effects will no longer be applied, that is, they will be completely overridden.

Leaving aside [Yubel], [Yubel Phantom] has the ability to not be destroyed by battle and to reduce the battle damage to Yubel caused by its own battles to 0, which is the sixth priority in damage calculation. However, the effect of [Nightmare Pain] - "Battle damage to yourself caused by your [Yubel] monsters' battles is taken by your opponent" is the third priority, which is higher than the effect of [Yubel Phantom] itself.

This means that if [Yubel Phantom] attacks Hayato's [Undead Torture Giant], the result will be that [Yubel Phantom] reflects as much as 3000 points of damage back to Hayato, and if [Yubel] follows up with another attack, the final damage can even reach as high as 6000 points!
However, Hayato had no intention of letting Yubel have his way.

“You’ve planned this very well, but unfortunately I don’t really like the ‘gift’ you gave me, so I’m going to release it.” Hayato took out another card and said, “Speaking of which, I got this card from the ‘Light Wave’ that gave you power. It’s perfect for dealing with you.”

"I can activate this effect by chaining the Special Summon of [Undead Torture Giant], or by using the effect of this card in my hand during both players' Main Phases, and by Tributing monsters on my field with a combined Level of 11 or more!"

"The dark power hidden within 'Light of Destruction'—[Primal Life Form - Theia]—I Special Summon from my hand, and after it appears, if there are no other monsters on my field, I can also destroy the monster with the highest ATK on the field!"

Hayato pointed towards the field with Yubel and said, "What will be destroyed will not be Yubel himself, but that [Primitive Life Form Derivative]!"

"Tch, don't even think about it! You say you remember the effect of [Yuber Phantom], but haven't you completely forgotten it?" Chain Hayato played the monster card, and Yubel sneered, while waving his hand to command the [Yuber Phantom] on the field to act, "Chain the effect of [Primal Life Form - Theia] to activate the second effect of [Yuber Phantom]!"

"When an opponent's monster effect is activated, you can Tribute this card to activate this effect, which changes to 'Your opponent destroys one [Yubel] monster from their hand, Deck, or field!'"

Hayato replied, "But that's enough! Because unlike [Primal Life Form - Nibiru], the release of [Primal Life Form - Theia] isn't an effect, but rather the cost of its activation. Even if you rewrote its effect, I've already released all the monsters on my field!"

Seeing that the Special Summon of [Primitive Life Form - Theia] had failed and his field was now empty, Hayato remained quite calm. "However, that's really ruthless. I clearly told you that this card was used by your 'former boss'."

"Hmph. I only used the power of 'Light Wave' to bring me back to Jaden's side. Who cares what happened to him?"

On the surface, she appeared calm and collected, but inside, Yubel was extremely anxious. Although she had allowed [Primal Life Form - Nibiru] to come crashing down on her earlier, it was only because she was confident that she could Special Summon more than one version of herself on her field and use [Undead Torture Giant] in her hand to achieve victory.

However, now, [Undead Torture Giant] has been released by Hayato and sent back to Yubel's own graveyard. Although it has the ability to Special Summon itself to the opponent's field again while it is in the graveyard and if it Special Summons [Yubel], [Undead Torture Giant] is still restricted by the limitation that "you can only Special Summon [Undead Torture Giant] once per turn".

In other words, he couldn't deal even a single bit of combat damage to Kobayashi Hayato, whose field was completely empty. After all, both [Yubel] and [Yubel Phantom] were monsters with 0 attack power, and [Primal Life Form Specimen] was completely uncontrollable in defense position!
What annoyed her even more was that just before [Yubel's Phantom] was about to process its effect, Kobayashi Hayato actually played another card from his hand to complete the chain?!

"During the main phase for both players, I activate the effect of this card in my hand, [Tears of Elegy Type - Kusha's Wrath Type], Special Summon it from my hand, and banish either one [Tears of Elegy Type] card or one [Kusha's Wrath Type] card from my hand or Graveyard."

Hayato played a monster with an overall color scheme completely different from the previous [Tears of Elegy Tribe] monster, saying, "Come forth, Red Mermaid! The Tear of the Void is here in union!"

"Then I will exclude the [Tears of Elegy Clan - Little Mermaid] from the cemetery!"

The Little Mermaid of the Pearl Tear Elegy Clan, who was previously sent to the grave by Hayato but failed to complete the fusion due to the interference of the Skeleton King, flew out of Hayato's grave. Then, the power of the Yubel Phantom was dealt with, and the Special Summon of the Primal Life Form - Theia was changed to a card that destroys Yubel.

"I destroyed one of my cards, [Yubel]." Destroying a card from his own deck, Yubel, who wasn't stupid, immediately saw through Hayato's plan. "You were actually trying to use [Primal Life Form - Theia] to bait out the effect of my [Yubel Phantom]!?"

"It's not exactly cheating, is it? After all, even if you don't have any cards on the field, I'll still play them anyway. At most, I'll just adjust the order so I play them after Red Mermaid to send them to the graveyard." Hayato looked completely innocent. "Besides, didn't I tell you? I know exactly what your [Yubel Phantom] effect is!"

"Tch, then, my own effect has been destroyed. Special Summon [Yubel - The Hated Knight] from my Deck!" Yubel said, looking unwillingly at the [Tears of Elegy Type - Kusha's Wrath Type] that appeared on Hayato's field.

“But before you can unleash it, the Red Mermaid’s entrance effect will take effect first!” Hayato added.

[Tears of Elegy, Clan Type: Kusha's Wrathful Might] [7☆/Water]

[Psychic Clan/Effect]

[2300/1200]

"【Tears of Elegy Type: Vajra Wrathful Type】Can only be activated if it is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned. Send the top three cards of either player's Deck to the Graveyard!"

As he spoke, Hayato flipped over the three cards at the top of his deck and showed them directly to Yubel. "Unfortunately, Yubel—all three of these cards have effects that can be activated!"

【Yubel - The Hated Knight】【ATK0】 【Mature Chronicle】【Chronicle Indicator 5→6】

After [Yubel - The Hated Knight] appeared, and after a counter was added to [The Chronicle of Maturity], all the cards Hayato sent to the graveyard began to activate their effects!
"Self-chained, C1 [Tears of the Mermaid] C2 [Tears of the Mermaid] C3 [Shadow Dragon] First is the effect of [Shadow Dragon]: If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, you can target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field and destroy the targeted card."

"And the card I'm going to destroy is the Continuous Spell Card [Nightmare Pain]!"

Previously, Hayato didn't know what effects Yubel's cards had, but now that he knows all the information, he naturally wants to destroy Nightmare Pain, which provides Yubel's Phantom with the ability to reflect damage, right from the start.

The shadow dragon, formerly known as [Flame Dragon Star - Suanni], breathed out its dragon breath, burning away the thorn whip in Yubel's backcourt. Before Yubel could even be angry about the disappearance of [Nightmare Pain], he looked at the two merging vortexes that had almost simultaneously unfolded beside Hayato!

"Are they going to fuse with that fusion monster from the [Dark Realm] again?"

Hearing Yubel's instinctive guess, Hayato shook his head: "No, who would choose the original plan when the situation is completely different? The fusion material I'm going to use is no longer [Swamp Demon King] - with the effect of [Tearful Lament Siren Mermaid], I'm going to return [Tearful Lament Narcissus Mermaid] from my graveyard and [Siren] itself to the deck!"

"Meeting the fusion material requirements, we can combine [Tears of Elegy Clan - Narcissus Mermaid] with a [Tears of Elegy Clan] monster!"

"Evolve by absorbing the power of the defeated ancient rulers, wield the dazzling blade that cleaves through meteorites, annihilate all other adversaries in the environment, and fill the pie chart with your full-body image!"

Fusion Summon! Level 8☆!

The tides swirled around Hayato, drawing two cards from his graveyard into them. Riding the waves and eddies, the Narcissus Mermaid, dressed in new clothes by the Siren Mermaid, returned to Hayato's field. Having severed her bonds and wielded the radiant glass blade, she is now called—

"You are not allowed to play Duel Monsters—[Rusaka Mermaid of the Pearl Tear Singer Clan]!"

【The Lament of the Pearl-Tear Clan - Rusaka Mermaid】【8☆/Water】

[Aquarium/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2500]

But that wasn't all. Beside Hayato, another Fusion Vortex, triggered by the effect of [Tears of Elegy - Merlo Mermaid], remained unactivated. Hayato casually pulled two cards from his graveyard, saying, "Next, these two cards. Under the effect of [Melo], I return [Abyssal Beast - Albert] and [Melo] from my graveyard to the bottom of my deck. While on the field and in the graveyard, the card name of [Abyssal Beast - Albert] is treated as [Albus's Fallen Heir]!"

"To meet the fusion material requirements, you need a DARK monster plus [Albus's Fallen Blood]!"

"Mocking the light, deceiving the darkness! In the name of the rebellious 'Lufi Leon,' let us reveal the mark of 'He,' the antithesis of white!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 8☆!"

"Ignite it—[Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Realm Dragon]!"

【Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Realm Dragon】【8☆/Dark】

[Dragon/Fusion/Effect]

[2500/3000]

Hayato's field, which was just empty a moment ago, suddenly has three powerful monsters added to it, while his hand has hardly been damaged during this time.

Just when Yubel thought he could finally intervene, he saw Hayato send another card from his hand to the graveyard and say: "If the Fusion Summon of [Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Dragon] is successful, I discard one card from my hand to activate this effect. I return monsters on my field, in my graveyard, and banished as Fusion Material to my Deck. I then Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster of Level 8 or lower, except for [Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Dragon].

"As a trade-off, [Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Dragon] cannot attack this turn, and I am not a Fusion Monster and cannot be Special Summoned from the Extra Deck."

Noticing Yubel's gaze, Hayato also revealed a provocative smile: "I've already said, your turn is mine—your turn is my turn, and my turn is still my turn!"

Unlike the fusion of water vortexes created by the [Tears], this time the fusion vortex created by the effect of [Divine Flame Dragon - Crimson Dragon] around Hayato was entirely composed of flames, instantly devouring the two cards Hayato took from the graveyard.

"Return the cards 'Demonic King of the Swamp' and 'Half-Dragon Maid/Dragon Butler' from my Graveyard to the Deck. Replace the monster with 'Demonic King of the Swamp' in place of the specified card name with 'Albus's Fallen.' To satisfy the Fusion Material requirement, add 'Albus's Fallen' to the Fusion/Synchro Monster!"

"At the bottom of the icy lake of Great Spirit Peak, the purest water reflects the 'image' of the Heart Sword. The icy water vanishes, transforming into the raw stone for forging the sword. [Ice Water], [Image Sword], life and death, an endless cycle! In the midst of delusion, let out the cry from your heart!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 8☆!"

"Phantom Dragon Draws its Blade - [Ice Sword Dragon - Phantom Ice Dragon]!"

【Ice Sword Dragon - Illusion Ice Dragon】【8☆/Dark】

[Phantom Dragon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2500]

　Although it features Predator Plant, Tears of the Goddess, and Branding, Hayato is currently using twelve cards from his Extra Deck in this duel (I'm mentioning this because I saw someone complaining about whether he has enough Extra Deck slots).

　　Also, the previous chapter has been revised because it needs to reach 200 words in the main text to trigger the payout threshold, so it's been placed in the author's notes.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)