Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

Chapter 1841 Light Body
[Ferocious, Hungry, and Poisonous Fusion Dragon] [ATK2800]

As the alluring poison dragon appeared on Hayato's field, Vera held up a card and waved it at Hayato: "The activation of the spell card just now triggered the effect of [Witchcraft Substitute Master]. I used that to use Heine's second ability—to add a [Witchcraft] spell/trap card from my graveyard to my hand."

"I naturally chose the [Demonstration of Witchcraft] that Heine activated this turn."

[Vell: 4000LP, Hand: 2→3]

Seeing that Vera's hand was growing, Hayato raised an eyebrow. Because when [Demonstration of Witchcraft] and Vera's Spellcaster monsters were activated, Hayato couldn't chain their effects, which meant that he couldn't counter her effects. Even using [Summoning Magic] to summon "Light Chariot" wouldn't be very useful.

Perhaps this is why there aren't many cards with explosive power in the [Witchcraft] category, just like how it's difficult to strengthen the Reptile class with [Snake Rain].

As for the additional cards Vera has, there's not much to worry about. While cards are certainly an important resource, the ones you can actually play are the real resources. All three cards in Vera's hand are face-up and cannot be played during Hayato's turn; they're just used as cost for activating the [Witchcraft] monster's effect.

The only troublesome thing facing Hayato now is that, under the blessing of [Witch's Alley], [Witch's Magic] monsters have gained resistance that cannot be destroyed by battle or effect for one time. And with Vera having three monsters on the field, it seems that even if Hayato fills the field with five monsters, he will not be able to break through.
—But it doesn't matter! The seemingly impenetrable defense actually relies entirely on the existence of the continuous spell card "Witch's Alley". Although Hayato doesn't have any cards to destroy the back row, Vera does!
"【Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】 requires two DARK monsters as fusion materials. However, if only monsters on the field are used as fusion materials, it can be activated on the turn it is successfully Fusion Summoned. Its ATK increases by the sum of the ATKs of all monsters Special Summoned by your opponent until the end of the turn."

Hayato's finger traced over the three monsters on Vera's field: "【Witchcraft Substitute Master】, 【Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine】, and 【Endymion's Handmaid - Jenny】. All three monsters were Special Summoned, and their attack power will become fuel for 【Hungry Poison】!"

"It is the power of your [witchcraft] that propelled me to heaven!"

【Fierce, Hungry, Poisonous Fusion Dragon】 plunges its roots into the earth, frantically absorbing the power of the monsters on Vera's field, causing its attack power to surge!
[Ferocious, Hungry, and Poisonous Fusion Dragon] [ATK 2800 → 8200]

"Hey, seriously? Such outrageous attack power right from the start?" Vera's eyelids twitched, startled by the power unleashed by the [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. "And didn't we agree that you were using a 'pure spellcaster' deck? That monster is clearly a dragon!"

"But no matter how high its attack power is, it's meaningless if it can't harm me. This mere [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] is nothing but a weakling that can't hit anyone, a weakling~ a weakling!"

Seeing that Vera was really putting on that classic little brat look, Hayato felt that this was more like it. The Vera he met with Alai earlier was too serious. This little brat was the Vera he knew.

He nodded and pointed at Heine, saying, "The first effect of [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] is pure attack power, but her power is not just about attacking. During the power absorption, she has already marked the monsters on your field as her prey. Now it's time to reap the rewards!"

"Once per turn, you can target one Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls to activate the second effect of [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]! Until the End Phase of this turn, the targeted monster's effects are negated, and [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] gains the same original card name and effect as that monster!"

Hayato's "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" has evolved multiple times, and its effect is already a hybrid version of the OCG and anime cards. However, even without any evolution, whether it's the physical card or the anime version, it has the ability to copy the opponent's monster effects. The only difference is whether it can obtain the same card name and whether it can negate the opponent's effects.

The cards of the [Witchcraft] category are not that strong, so Hayato's rabbit head doesn't support him in memorizing all of their effects. However, he has the "System Shop" which allows him to check the effects of cards at any time. He had already found the third effect of [Witchcraft Substitute Master], which was hidden by Vera and Heine - destroy any card on the field without targeting!

Although its other two effects are useless to Hayato, this one effect alone is enough, because it allows Hayato to remove the [Witch's Alley] spell on Vera's back row to remove the "cannot be destroyed by battle or effect" resistance on Vera's monsters, and the conditions required to trigger this effect are too simple to worry about.

"As long as I use its third ability, I can easily destroy your [Witch's Alley], and the destruction resistance on your card will be removed!"

"Huh!?" Before Vera could say anything, Heine was quite surprised. "W-how do you know about my third ability? I've never used it before!"

"Because I'm Batman!" Hayato casually dismissed Heine with a bluff, then added, "If you want to protest the unequal information, I can tell you the effects of my card: [Five-Element Magician] cannot be released, cannot be used as fusion material, and cannot be destroyed by effects. Is that fair?"

Upon hearing Hayato's words, Vera quickly regained her composure after her initial surprise and, drawing on her years of experience, instantly analyzed how to break the deadlock.

"You said that the effect of [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] requires targeting, right? Based on that premise, your operation cannot be done because Heine—not [Witchcraft Substitute Master], but [Witchcraft Craftsman Tailor Heine]—cannot target any other Spellcaster monster on my field as its effect because of her effect!"

Hayato smiled upon hearing this: "Of course I know that—that's why I told you about the despair you're about to face, based on the premise that this card will be activated first."

"I was merely describing it; I didn't actually activate the second effect of [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. On the contrary, I activated the Quick-Play Spell Card [Called by the Grave] in my hand—targeting a monster in your opponent's Graveyard, banishing the targeted monster, and then negating the effects of the banished monster and any monsters with the same name as that monster until the End Phase of the next turn!"

"I target another [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine] in your graveyard, banish it, and the effect of Heine on your field will be negated. Then, no card can stop me from using the power of [Hunger Poison] to gain the effect of your [Witchcraft Substitute Master]!"

"Eat my invincible Tomb Finger!"

Instead of taking any action, a bright green finger burst out of the ground and pointed directly at Heine, startling Xiao She so much that he almost couldn't stand up, because no matter how you looked at it, that hand looked like the hand of a zombie or some kind of monster.

While Vera wasn't afraid of demons and monsters, she hadn't anticipated that Hayato would have a card capable of countering [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine]. Nevertheless, she seized the opportunity and shouted, "But since you're trying to achieve your goal with a magic card, don't blame me for using this opportunity to counterattack—that is, before your effect arrives, I'll use Heine's hidden effect first!"

"The second effect of [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine] can be activated during the opponent's turn. By discarding one Spell Card from my hand and targeting one face-up card on the opponent's field, I can destroy the targeted card. And now I'm going to destroy your [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]!"

Vera tossed a card from her hand and said rather smugly, "That way, you won't be able to get the effect of [Witchcraft Substitute Master]!"

As Vera discarded her hand, the floating sewing needles embedded in the staff of [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine] flew out, tracing overlapping arcs in the air as they flew around [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. Finding the right angle, they suddenly thrust out, instantly piercing through the [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]'s body! Then, [Called by the Grave] banished [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine] from Vera's graveyard, removing the effect that [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine] could only target her while it was still active on the field.

"【Hunger Poison】!" Hayato exclaimed, a sorrowful expression on his face, seemingly distressed by his monster's injury. "You actually destroyed my 【Hunger Poison】, you really are..."

"So he really is just a kid." Seeing Hayato making a big deal out of the destroyed card, Vera became a little careless. "Paying attention to temporary gains and losses will only give others an opportunity to strike you hard. Besides, how can you easily win a duel without sacrificing cards?"

However, because [Fierce Hunger Poison] was destroyed and was about to be sent to the graveyard, Alai, who was in Hayato's graveyard, couldn't help but peek out to see what was happening and complained to Vera, "No, I think Master might not have meant that."

"You destroyed my [Fierce Hunger Poison], you really are..." Hayato slowly raised his head, his face showing no trace of sadness, but rather a sinister grin of triumph. "Truly—Ada thief!"

"Because I explained the effects of [Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] and [Five-Element Magician] to you beforehand, you won't waste the destruction effect on [Five-Element Magician] and will only focus on [Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. But what you don't know is that [Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] has a third effect that can only be activated when it is destroyed!"

"The most ferocious and malevolent power that can only be activated when [Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] is destroyed—destroy all Special Summoned monsters on the opponent's field and inflict damage equal to the sum of their ATKs!"

With its three effects being a bizarre combination of damage, high attack speed, and devastating board presence, Hayato frequently includes "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" in his Extra Deck because its effects are so useful and its summoning is so easy. And now, although the second effect didn't get to activate, the third effect of "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" has come into play.

The [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon], which had just absorbed a large amount of energy, was destroyed by [Witchcraft Craftsman - Tailor Heine]. The uncontrolled energy within its body instantly went berserk, sweeping away everything around it indiscriminately. It was as if endless laser beams were blooming from the broken gems it left behind, sparing no monster on Vera's field.

"Imitation of the Holy Moon Magic - Dream Fork!"

Just as Heine and the others were about to be destroyed, Vera activated a powerful spell using the [Witch's Alley] spell in the back row. She used a hazy illusion to conceal Heine and the others, preventing them from being destroyed by the dying counterattack of [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. After [Hungry Poison] destroyed the field, the three spellcasters were still standing on Vera's field, at the cost of their one and only "cannot be destroyed by battle/effect" resistance being consumed.

"Ugh, I'm suddenly so sleepy." Vera yawned suddenly after casting the spell. "I had a sudden urge to replicate Endymion's magic, but it's definitely too much for me right now."

"But to think you had such a trick up your sleeve, that was really dangerous, buddy. If it weren't for the [Witch's Alley] helping me with my defense, I probably would have been killed by you in an instant, right?" Vera said angrily, puffing out her cheeks. "You don't show any mercy to a beautiful girl at all!"

"Where are the pretty girls, please? You, Alai, and Endymion are the same age, aren't you all over a hundred years old?" Hayato retorted.

(The reason Sandri can stay young forever is that she wanted to be as beautiful as she was when she was young, but she couldn't control the spell's range and would turn into a baby or an old woman at the same time, so she finally fixed herself in the form of a young girl.)
“Since I used a forbidden magic to make me younger, my age is calculated based on my current appearance!” Vera patted her chest, which contained nothing at all. “I haven’t even asked you for Halloween candy, Christmas presents, or New Year’s red envelopes!”

"So you just celebrate whichever festival has something to give away, right?" Hayato was speechless at Vera's shamelessness. "But in doing so, the resistance of the monsters on your field will be depleted, and at the same time, the fusion materials I need will be in my graveyard."

"The Spell Card [Summoning Magic] is activated! You must be familiar with this card from an old friend, right? This card can send monsters from my hand to the Graveyard as Fusion Material to perform a Fusion Summon. However, when performing a Fusion Summon of a [Summoned Beast] monster, it can go a step further by banishing monsters from my field and both players' Graveyards as Fusion Material."

"I am removing [Summoner Aleister] and [Vampire Fusion Dragon] from my graveyard!"

"【Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】...is it the dark attribute 【Summoned Beast - Caligula】?" Because of the 【Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon】, the first thing Vera thought of was the beginning of the extremely ferocious person who turned the name "Aleister Crowley" from a hero to a "magic name: Great Beast" in this world—the 【Summoned Beast - Caligula】 that Aleister summoned onto him using 【Summoning Magic】.

But then she suddenly realized that the key point wasn't the dark attribute, but rather the part already hinted at in the name of the [Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]. "No, could it be—!?"

"The required materials are [Summoner - Aleister] plus a Fusion Monster!"

"Disintegrate and then reunite! May the insatiable thirst for knowledge possess this land, and rise thirstily to the heavens to become a divine being!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 8☆!"

"Spiritualization has reached perfection. Now, let's initiate Spirit Ascension—[Summoned Beast - Light Body]!"

Just like his magic name "Great Beast," Aleister, having completely abandoned his human form, returned to the field from the graveyard in a godlike form.

A structure strikingly similar to the [Magic Academy - Lamaison] behind him coiled around the gigantic human body. Having completely sublimated himself, Alai looked down at Vera and said, "This long-lost power, used to destroy a long-lost friend—is more than suitable!"

[Summoned Beast - Light Body] [8☆/Light]

[Angel Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2000/2800]

In previous card stories, it was generally assumed that Alai was imprisoned in the Magic Academy after going berserk. However, the Magic War arc of the ongoing OCG card story states from the beginning that Alai's "physical body was destroyed, but his soul resided in Lamaison, and this land developed into a magical city." Therefore, I have a different guess about [Magic Codex Crowley]—could it be that it wasn't the real Alai, but rather that someone later used the power of magic to trace back to the source and created an Alai's body, which led to the story of creating a father who went berserk and became a body of light?

Given that only five chapters of the Magic Wars arc have been released so far, with an estimated twenty more chapters to go, and the story has only just begun with the appearance of Sid, who is possibly a sixth-star witch using plant magic like the Venus flytrap, the magic faction hasn't appeared at all yet, so the above is just speculation.