Is this the poker world?Ada thief!

But that's not all. Hayato continued, "【Y-Dragon of Ages】has an effect that activates when it is Special Summoned. Not only that, I will also chain-activate the second effect of the Field Spell Card 【Union Hangar】!"

"Once per turn, if I have a Machine-Type LIGHT Union Monster that I Normal or Special Summon, I can target it to activate this effect. Select a Machine-Type LIGHT Union Monster from my Deck that has a different card name and can be equipped to that monster, but the Union Monster equipped by this effect cannot be Special Summoned this turn."

"C1 [Y-Time Dragon Head] C2 [Union Hangar], I equip [Z-Endless Tracks] to [Y-Time Dragon Head] by the effect of [Union Hangar], and by the effect of [Y-Time Dragon Head] itself, I equip a Level 4 Machine-Type LIGHT monster from my hand or Graveyard as an Equip Spell Card, and I enter a self-restriction this turn from Special Summoning monsters other than LIGHT monsters from the Extra Deck."

"I will equip [X-Interlaced Cannon] on [Y-Dragon of Time]!"

【Y-Time Capsule】(X-Interlaced Cannon, Z-Endless Tracks)【ATK1500】

Although its attack power has not increased, [Y-Year Dragon Head] has equipped itself with two Alliance Monsters at once, and its appearance is already very close to its fusion form - it can immediately transform into its fusion form at Hayato's word.

So, what can Hayato wait for?

"Except for my [X-Cross Cannon], [Y-Dragon of Time], and [Z-Endless Tracks]—the gathered bonds unite the mechanical souls, illuminate the future before us! Go!"

"Triple contact fusion, Level 8!"

"Merge, [XYZ-Super Divine Dragon Cannon]!"

【XYZ-Extreme Super Dragon Cannon】【9☆/Light】

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2800]

"It's not over yet! Banish the three monster cards [A], [B], and [C] from my Graveyard—Requiem will restore the world of the God of Perfection! [ABC-Dragon Destroyer]!"

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【8☆/Light】

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2800]

Hayato placed monster cards in the last monster zone, glanced at his hand, and felt that it was about time to stop.

"Finally, I set two cards face down, and the turn ends."

【小林隼人：4000LP，手牌6→5→6→5→4→2】

【Ra's Winged Dragon】【ATK4600】

[Armed Dragon Assault Cannon] [ATK3500]

[Armed Dragon - Lightning LV10] [ATK3000]

【XYZ-Extreme Super Dragon Cannon】【ATK3000】

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【ATK3000】

Backcourt: [Face Card] x2
Venue: [Union Hangar]

In other words, the current duels can only have five monster zones and there are no extra monster zones as later on. Otherwise, Hayato would have at least brought back the banished [XYZ-Dragon Cannon] and combined it with [ABC-Dragon Destroyer] to create [AtoZ]. Unfortunately, he can't do that.

Even now, the lineup is already quite impressive. Although it lacks the "counter" effect, it has two "bomb" effects, and even more advanced effects like the "Exclude" effect of the "Armed Dragon Strike Cannon" and the "ABC-Dragon Annihilator," providing ample disruption.

Could it be that the opponent can use their few remaining cards to draw a perfect hand and wipe out Hayato's board?

"My turn, draw a card." [Gaussa] began His turn, drawing a card from His deck. Due to the reckless monster He played in the previous turn, He only had three cards left in His hand.

He didn't rush to play his cards, but instead took out a card from the graveyard and said, "This [God's Hundred Arms of Invisibility], which was discarded from my hand by the opponent's effect last turn, is still your only destiny no matter how much you resist or convert to the glory of God!"

"Ban this card from my graveyard to activate its second effect: your opponent draws one card from their deck, and then discards one card from their hand!"

While it might seem pointless to let the opponent draw one and discard one, Hayato, having witnessed the previous demonstration of the three [Hundred-Armed Formless] monsters, understood that the [Hundred-Armed Formless] monsters—at least those three [Hundred-Armed Formless]—could be summoned from the hand if the opponent had cards in their hand. The effect of [God's Hundred-Armed Formless] was used to Special Summon those monsters.

“So, under your effect, I draw a card from my deck and then discard a card from my hand.” Hayato casually discarded a card and said, “But, can you Special Summon a monster that easily?”

Similar to when Hayato activated Pot of Greed, Gaussaur's special summoning conditions were met again, and three giant phantoms appeared behind him, ready to pounce. However, the phantom of the Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Bristle vanished immediately after appearing, indicating that something was wrong.

"This is?"

"Hmph, you think the [Armed Dragon Cannon] with its complicated summoning conditions is just for show?" Hayato arrogantly pointed to the sky with one hand on his hip. "As long as [Armed Dragon Cannon] is in the Monster Zone, your opponent cannot activate the effects of cards with the same name that are banished from both sides!"

"I used [VtoZ] to specifically banish your [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Breeze], and from that moment on, you can no longer use the effect of that card with the same name, including Special Summoning it. Not only that, because you just banished [God's Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand] from your Graveyard, both of that card's effects, which can be used once per turn, are now useless and cannot be activated!"

[Gaussa] paused for a moment, as if pondering: "Even so, God's glory remains great. What I want to summon is not [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Brisz], but the second [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Gagasz]!"

【Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Gaiga Tear】【7☆/Dark】

[Fantasy Demon Race/Effect]

[1200/2800]

A second blue-black monster, resembling a lizard and a three-headed dog, appeared on the field of [Gaussa], and it was after its appearance that [Gaussa] finally activated its effect.

"Although there is a limit of once per turn for the card name, the power of [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Gaussa] becomes quite strong after it converted to the embrace of the gods - during my Main Phase, I flip over the top three cards of my opponent's Deck, then Special Summon one monster from among them to my field, and return the rest of the cards to the Deck."

"I take refuge in the divine light!"

The name sounds nice, but what comes out of the monster on the field of [Gaussa] is disgusting black mud that surges and rushes towards Hayato's deck, and conjures up the same snake-like writhing tentacles as those on [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Gagas].

Hayato snorted and kicked away the tentacles that were trying to touch his deck: "Who gave you permission to touch what belongs to me? If anyone's going to flip it over, it's me who will flip over the deck."

Hayato pulled out three cards and showed them to Hayato, saying, "Alright, come and choose. Choose which monster you want to Special Summon."

[Gaussa] Upon seeing the card Hayato flipped over, my first thought was that I was very lucky. None of the three cards at the top of Hayato's deck were Spell/Trap Cards that could not be Special Summoned; they were all Monster Cards.

However, upon closer inspection, he found something strange. While the deck Hayato had just used had a jumbled collection of card names, it was at least confined to the [Disruption], [Armed Dragon], and [AtoZ] series, and there were indeed connections between them. But the three cards Hayato was now revealing didn't seem to belong to the same deck.
[Machine Puppet - Nightmare]? [Super Demon God - True Self]? [Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus]?
Intuition tells Gaussa that it's best not to special summon any monsters, but it seems he has no other choice.

"Choose, why aren't you choosing?" As if he couldn't wait to feed someone history, Hayato smiled mischievously and urged, "Are you looking down on these monsters if you don't choose? It's just that I haven't unlocked 'Phantom Collapse' yet, otherwise I could have used [Evalis] to make up 'Gito IV'."

"I Special Summon [Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus]." Although he couldn't understand what Hayato was saying, [Gaussa] assumed he hadn't read the other's language correctly and randomly chose the last monster. "Return the other cards to the opponent's Deck and Special Summon [Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus] to my field."

[Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus] [4 stars/location]

[Rock Faction/Effect]

[1200/1300]

As the fossil-assembled dinosaur appears on [Gaussa]'s field, it occupies his last monster zone. The spot next to [Disruption Yellow] is still occupied by [Disruption Black] until [Gaussa]'s turn ends.

"Tsk, didn't get to choose the real defense, what a pity." Hayato said regretfully, "I couldn't send [Super Demon God - Id] and [Machine Puppet - Nightmare] to the opponent's field. But it's okay! [Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus] also has a powerful enough effect - as long as this card is in the Monster Zone, neither player can Special Summon monsters!" "Because it directly blocks the act of Special Summoning itself, even if I pull out a [Turtle], I can't eat it. Similarly, even if you want to use 'yourself' - that is, the ability of [Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa] to send a monster on the field to the Graveyard to Special Summon yourself, it is also blocked by [Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus]!"

"!?!" A strange, indescribable sound escaped [Gaussa]'s voice, a mixture of surprise and scream. "Such power...how could it be?!"

"No, you're just a mere mortal, how would you know my abilities! What else do you know!"

Looking at the five [Hundred Arms Without Form] cards already in the system shop, Hayato spread his hands innocently: "I don't know much, I only know what I want to know."

"Who exactly are you?" Gaussa's single red eye flickered erratically beneath his hood, staring at Hayato's calm expression.

“Just like you said, ‘a mere mortal.’ If I had to introduce myself, I’d say I’m just a duelist passing by. Remember that!” Hayato waved his hand. “Alright, go ahead and do your thing. That being said, you don’t even have room to do anything, because the monster zone is already full, and even special summons are blocked.”

With only two cards left in his hand, what can Gauss do? He can do nothing!
Just as Hayato was thinking this, he saw [Gaussa] suddenly put a card face down in his hand, and then play the remaining card from his hand: "I set a card face down, and then the spell card [Heavenly Treasure Card] is activated!"

"Both players should draw cards from their decks until they each have six cards in their hand. I can draw six cards!"

Hayato curled his lip and said unhappily, "How lucky. So I can draw four cards too—tsk, it's really annoying to think that others have drawn more than me."

【迦乌撒：4000LP，手牌：5→2→2→3→2→1→6】

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, hand cards: 2→6]

By drawing a large number of cards at once, [Gaussa] actually found a card among these six that could break his stalemate.

"【Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus】only restricts Special Summoning, but the power of the gods benefits all aspects, even Normal Summoning is no problem!" With enough cards in hand to back him up, 【Gaussa】 spoke with renewed confidence, "Tribute my 【Fossil Dinosaur - Pachycephalosaurus】, Tribute Summon 【Baphomet the Great Wing】!"

The fossilized dinosaur skeletons, having lost their binding force, scattered across the ground. On the [Gaussaint] field, Baphomet, the classic goat-headed demon with a pair of broad wings, descended!

【Baphomet the Great Wing】【5☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[1400/1800]

Hayato had seen this monster before, not from anyone else, but from Darkness, another user of the "Illusion Demon Clan"!

"The dark sediment flowing into the inner part of the world"

Just as Hayato was pondering, Gaussaint, who had played Baphomet the Great Wing and removed the restriction on Pachycephalosaurus, was clearly quite pleased with himself: "From now on, the glory of the gods will no longer be bound! If Baphomet the Great Wing is successfully Normal or Special Summoned, activate its effect to add one Level 4 Beast Monster and one Fusion Beast from my Deck to my hand!"

"Although as a price I can only Special Summon Fusion Monsters from the Extra Deck until the end of this turn, God is forgiving!"

Removing two cards and adding them to his hand, [Gaussa] picked up two cards from the Duel Disk and said, "Next, I will Tribute [Hundred-Armed Invisible Hand - Gagas] and [Disruption Yellow] from my field to Special Summon myself from the Extra Deck—"

"God dwells in heaven, and the world is at peace. Feel God's love and accept His embrace!"

"Honor the name of God—[Gauzza, the Hundred-Armed, Formless God]!"

【Gauza, the Hundred-Armed, Formless God】【8☆/Light】

[Fantasy Demon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2400/2500]

After much back and forth, [Gausa] finally followed the custom of duels in the Elven world—the duelist himself took to the stage to play cards!
He was walking triumphantly onto the field, unaware that Hayato had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"For this moment, I didn't even activate the effect of [Heavenly Treasure] and drew one less card." Hayato sent a card from his hand to the graveyard. "To chain the appearance of [Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa], I'm going to activate the effect of [Armed Dragon - Lightning LV10]!"

"Once during your opponent's turn, you can send one of my cards—this [Armed Dragon Lightning LV3]—to the Graveyard, then target another card on the field and destroy that card. [Armed Dragon Lightning LV10] gains 1000 ATK!"

Although it involves targeting, being activated during the opponent's turn (a "pseudo-second speed"), and costing a card to the graveyard, none of this can overshadow the power of the [Armed Dragon - Lightning LV10] effect. Its power can even be activated during the damage step, and destroying cards and increasing attack power are processed simultaneously. Even if the former fails, it does not affect the latter's effectiveness.

Why bring this up? Because—

"Quick-Attack Spell Card [Forbidden Cloth]!" Gaussaar, hastily drawing a card to protect himself and about to don a white holy robe, spoke arrogantly, "Useless! Under the radiance of God, mere mortals cannot harm the noble God. Blind resistance is futile!"

"Until the end of the turn, my own attack power—[Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa]—will decrease by 600 points, granting me resistance to being destroyed by effects and becoming the target of effects for both sides!"

Hayato raised an eyebrow: "Sacrificing your attack power to protect yourself? Doing so only makes me—want to destroy you even more!"

"Chain with [Forbidden Cloth]! Before it takes effect, I activate the effect of [XYZ - Extreme Super Dragon Cannon] on my field—once per turn of your opponent, discard one card from my hand, target one card on your opponent's field, destroy that card, and I destroy [Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa]!"

"you!"

If you think about it rationally, you should have already invested resources in clearing the field with the card 【Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa】 but failed to destroy the opponent. You should have decisively moved on to another target. But Hayato just had to keep his eyes on 【Hundred-Armed Invisible God - Gaussa】 and was determined to destroy it. This made 【Gaussa】 a little anxious.

"A reckless act! You humans are too stubborn, which is why you've gone astray. Why be so determined to be enemies of God?" Playing another card, [Gaussa] didn't forget to add a few more words of verbal abuse, "Give up, you can't harm God—Quick-Play Spell Card [Forbidden Grail]! Increases [XYZ-Super Dragon Cannon]'s ATK by 400 until the end of the turn, but negates its effect!"

Seeing that a second [Forbidden] Quick-Play Spell Card had been played in a row, Hayato said disdainfully, "You say I'm too stubborn, fixated on destroying a card, but aren't you the one who insists on keeping a card?"

How can mortals be equated with gods?!

"Why don't you just admit you're being hypocritical?" Ignoring [Gausa] Hayato, he picked up the card [XYZ-Super Divine Dragon Cannon]. "But if you think you can save yourself by playing [Forbidden Grail], you're sorely mistaken—before that card's effect takes effect, I'll activate the second effect of [XYZ-Super Divine Dragon Cannon]!"

"Ban [XYZ-Super Dragon Cannon] from my field or graveyard, reveal one Level 8 Machine-Type LIGHT Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, and Special Summon up to three Fusion Material Monsters from my Graveyard whose names are listed on that monster."

Hayato took out a card and showed it, saying, "I'm showing you my second [VWXYZ-Dragon Cannon], and Special Summoning one of its Fusion Materials—the previously banished [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]—to my field!"

The parts of [XYZ-Super Dragon Cannon] have aged rapidly, degenerating from a technologically advanced appearance full of engraved lines into a more rounded, old-fashioned model that looks like it was just assembled. While its Special Summon is restricted, it only applies to Special Summoning from the Extra Deck and Graveyard; Special Summoning while banished is unrestricted.

However, more importantly than all of this, because Hayato banished [XYZ-Genius Dragon Cannon] from the field, the effect of [Forbidden Grail] will no longer be processed and will become invalid. In other words, the destructive effect previously activated by [XYZ-Genius Dragon Cannon] can still take effect!
At this point, even if [Gaussa] wanted to give up "himself" on the field, it was already somewhat impossible. The biggest reason was the so-called "sunk cost" - in order to protect himself, he had already invested the resources of two cards in [Gaussa the Hundred-Armed Invisible God]. If he just stopped now, wouldn't it be equivalent to all of his previous investments going down the drain?

So even though He was reluctant, He still had to keep putting in the cards!
"Quick-Play Spell Card [Extremely Weak Voice]! Target one face-up monster I control; this turn, that monster's original ATK becomes 100 and it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects!" Despite the pain of losing his third card, [Gaussa] outwardly feigned indifference, "The majesty of God is absolute and unshakeable!"

However, since we've come this far, it's about time we reached that point—

Just as Gaussa was thinking this, Hayato threw another card from his hand and said, "Eh? You weren't thinking, 'It's come to this, it's about time,' were you? This is nothing! Did I say you could live?"

"The effect of [ABC-Dragon Annihilator] is: once per turn for both players, discard one card from your hand, target one card on the field, and banish that card!" [Gaussa] had already committed three cards to this chain, and Hayato also discarded his third card. "Not to mention that your resistance hasn't even taken effect yet, it's just a mere destruction resistance. [ABC] is a noble banishment effect, just crush it like that!"

The green, purple, and orange mechanical beasts aimed their weapons at [Hundred-Armed Invisible - Gaussa]. He had managed to dodge the previous attacks with difficulty, but this most fatal attack left him with no means of defense and no power to stop it.

It's still because of "sunk costs" that [Gaussa] is now forcing itself to follow Hayato's chain of card plays. It's as if it doesn't understand why it, who is clearly the villain, is constantly being pressured by that mere human on the other side. Have the roles been reversed?
“I can no longer stop you from excluding 'me,' but do you think that's your victory? No! Because actually it's not you excluding me, but me excluding 'me'—it's all God's will!”

"Confront the true nature of the Netherworld—Activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Hundred-Armed Invisible Netherworld - Tartarus]!"

At the very end of this long chain of events, [Gaussa] played his fourth card, and his once abundant hand was now reduced to just three cards! (End of Chapter)