Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"I'm adding [The Wandering Bird and the Mysterious Map] to my hand."

"Next is the second effect of my [Wandering Bird and Unknown Wind], which can only be activated during my Main Phase. I select up to two Winged Beast monsters from my hand to show to my opponent, return them to the bottom of my Deck in any order they like, and draw the same number of cards from my Deck."

Hayato flipped over the two cards in his hand, besides the newly added [Wind-Traveling Bird and Mysterious Map], and said, "I will show [Gale Emperor - Raiza] and [Giant Bird of the Valley of Mist], then return to the bottom of the deck and draw two cards."

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, hand 3→3]

The newly drawn card seemed to suit Hayato's tastes very well. He played one of them and said, "Next, I will activate the second Field Spell Card in my deck, [Windbird and Mysterious Map], and use its effect to reveal one Level 1 [Windbird] monster in my hand—this [Windbird x Toucan]—to my opponent, and banish [Windbird x Snowy Owl] from my deck."

"After that, use the effect of [Windwalker and Mystery Map] to Normal Summon [Windwalker x Toucan] in Defense Position."

【Flying Migratory Bird × Toucan】【1☆/Wind】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[500/1300]

The three Migratory Birds carried Hayato back to the Migratory Birds and the Mysterious Map on his head. The Amazon River icon, representing South America, was also lit up. Now, all five marked locations on the Migratory Birds and the Mysterious Map are lit up, except for the North Pole, which represents the starting point. The new monster that appeared on Hayato's field is none other than a toucan that lives in the Amazon rainforest.

Although its official name is "鵎鵼", it is too obscure, so the more descriptive name "巨托鸟" (giant toucan) is much easier to remember.

"If 【Windwalker x Toucan】 is successfully summoned, I will target one of my banished 【Windwalker】 cards, add it to my hand, and perform an additional Normal Summon of a Winged Beast Monster. The card I choose is the 【Windwalker x Snowy Owl】 that was just banished."

After a pause, Hayato retrieved another card, "and the effect of the banished [Windwalker x Robin]: if I summon a Winged Beast monster on my field, activate it and add it to my hand."

Hayato did not use all three of his banished "Windwalker" lower-level monsters to recover them all at once with their respective effects. Instead, he only retrieved one of them. This is also a way for "Windwalker" to protect the chain, that is, to use the effect of the banished "Windwalker" to clear the chain and avoid important effects being negated.

Hayato completed the summon using the effect of the Field Spell Card [Wind-Traveling Bird and Mysterious Map], but he retrieved two banished monster cards in quick succession. However, this time, instead of playing [Wind-Traveling Bird x Robin] first, he played the last monster, [Wind-Traveling Bird], which hadn't yet appeared.

"Under the effect of [Windwalker and Unknown Wind], I send my [Windwalker x Toucan] and my opponent's [Teammon - Roc Phoenix] to the Graveyard. Tribute Summon!" Hayato pulled out a pair of sunglasses from somewhere. "I sense the potential of a new human in Snowcat—she could be the mother of our [Windwalker]!"

【Migratory Bird on the Wind × Snowy Owl】【10☆/Water】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[2900/800]

Finally, the original [Flying Bird] monster appears. On [Flying Bird and the Mysterious Map], the cedar icon representing the Arctic, the original departure point of the three [Flying Birds], lights up. Appearing on Hayato's field is a snowy owl that provided the three terns with clothing, food, and even a map for their long journey, truly deserving to be called their "mother." It looks quite gentle.

"The effect of 【Wind-Traveling Bird × Snow Owl】 is that if this card, which was Tribute Summoned, is on my field, I can activate it once per turn, allowing me to perform up to three Normal Summons this turn." Despite saying this, Hayato had no intention of activating its effect, since he had already created a kill field on the field and could secure victory without any further development.

The reason he took the photos of the "Wind Migratory Bird × Snowy Owl" was simply because he wanted each of the "Wind Migratory Birds" to make an appearance, like stamping a commemorative document to light up all the "Wind Migratory Birds and the Mysterious Map".

—It's like having three monsters on the field, a copy of "Obelisk the Tormentor" in your hand, and not having made a Normal Summon this turn. Who could resist the temptation to play "Obelisk the Tormentor" and utterly crush their opponent?

"That's it, let's enter my battle phase, then all forces attack!" With a wave of his hand, Hayato issued the first and final command of this duel, his hand pointing directly at [The Priestess of Nephthys]!

First came the blizzard whipped up by the wings of the [Wind-Traveling Bird x Snow Owl], followed by a slap from the [Wind-Traveling Bird x Emperor Penguin] with its "coo-coo-coo-coo" sound. Under these two direct attacks, the [Priestess of Nephthys]'s life points were wiped out in an instant, and she fell down!

[Nephthys' Priest: 4000LP → 1100LP → 0]

Chapter 1733 One man defeats the entire world!

In the Fairy Forest, I encountered the King of Duels. His Wind-Walking Bird continuously summoned monsters stronger than themselves, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't defeat him...

After the base score reached zero, the defeated [Priestess of Nephthys] fell and was about to disappear under the dueling rules of this world. In a way, the cruelty of the Elf world is hard to feel. Although duels do not cause real damage like the Dark Games in the human world, they can still ruthlessly take lives after a winner is decided.

Unlike before, when Hayato was interested in Blackwing and deliberately saved Blackwing - Shadow of Karma to fight for him, Hayato has no interest in the Nephthys deck and has no intention of being a saint to save Nephthys Priest, who previously wanted to take the power of Windbird from him.

However, just as the [Priestess of Nephthys] was about to disappear, Hayato noticed that blue flames suddenly began to ignite on her body and quickly faded away. The phantom of the [Azure Phoenix Goddess of Nephthys], which had only appeared when she was released as a sacrifice, rose from the fallen [Priestess of Nephthys], flew into the air, and dissipated.

Meanwhile, the flames on the [Priestess of Nephthys] gradually turned bright yellow, and her clothes were changed back to the gold they had when she was the [Guide of Nephthys], only the overall size had shrunk considerably—not only her clothes and hat, but also her body, which had actually changed from a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl to a little girl of about eleven or twelve years old?

He sat up from the ground, adjusting his hat. The Priestess of Nephthys—no, in his current state, perhaps he should be called the Connector of Nephthys—had a dejected expression and muttered to himself, "Failed, failed, failed, failed, failed..."

"They didn't die? Is this the power of the Nephthys..." Black Feather - Shadow of Karma looked at Nephthys's Linker with the same astonishment. "Although I had heard before that the Nephthys have a unique ability to reincarnate in order to achieve a special kind of 'immortality,' this is the first time I've witnessed it in person."

“It’s not just you Blackfeathers, it’s the same for us Harpies.” The Harpy Queen looked at Nephthys’s Linker and said, “Her age has completely regressed to that of a child. I wonder if she can ‘resurrect’ again, and what she will be like then?”

Because [Wind-Walking Bird] had completely transformed into a card in Hayato's hand and concealed its power, after Hayato's monsters disappeared from the field after the duel ended, the powerful aura that had previously filled the forest clearing had dissipated. [Black Feather] and [Harpy], as the first elf tribe to join Hayato, naturally entered the clearing without restraint and came to Hayato and [Nephthys's Linker]'s side.

"Whoa!" Although she was tough and sharp when she appeared as the Guide of Nephthys and even more arrogant and cold when she transformed into the Priestess of Nephthys, the current Connector of Nephthys only gives people the feeling of being cowardly and easy to bully.

Especially since she hadn't yet recovered from the psychological trauma of her defeat in the duel, and the once-powerful Harpy and the now almost all-powerful Black Feathers in the Great Forest had all flocked to her side, Nephthys's Linker looked terrified and, in a panic, chose to flee to Hayato's side to try and find cover.

"No, are you serious?" Hayato raised an eyebrow, looking at the trembling [Nephthys's Linker] beside him. "Isn't being this scared a bit too much? And why do you think I would protect you after just killing you?"

"N-No way?" Nephthys's intelligence seemed to have evolved with age, and she blinked, revealing a surprised expression.

Hayato felt like he was bullying a fool because of her blank expression. He casually said, "Let's not even talk about how Nephthys was just a nobody to begin with, and only with the addition of Flame King did she become somewhat worthless. In the current environment, she wouldn't even be worthy of carrying Blackfeather's shoes. You've clearly weakened a lot since I killed you once, haven't you? Where do you get the confidence that Blackfeather and Harpy will come after you?"

"If we have to say something, we should be more wary of the other spirits around us." Hayato pointed to the edge of the clearing. [Nephthys's Linker] looked over and saw many spirits staring at him with ill intent. They couldn't defeat [Blackwing], and might not even be able to defeat [Harpy], let alone Hayato, who had just displayed such power.

The "Absolute King of Birds and Beasts" has already begun to demonstrate its power. They don't have the guts to go against Hayato's [Wind-Traveling Bird], but they do have the guts, and a great deal of guts, to take advantage of the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials" to take over or eliminate [Nephthys] and [Flame King], who were once powerful but are now clearly in a weakened state.

"Goo... Goo-ga?" After listening to Hayato's words, Nephthys's Linker realized that she was more concerned about the other elven tribes than the Black Feathers. She was stunned for a moment, then used her amazing wisdom to instantly come to a conclusion.

She looked at Hayato's feet, then hugged them without hesitation, and cried out with deep emotion, "Why, why did you say such heartless things, Hayato-sama!"

"Huh?" She swung her leg and realized that although [Nephthys's Linker] was small, she was holding onto his leg very tightly. Even when Hayato lifted his leg, she didn't let go at all, as if she was determined to cling to Hayato's leg for support. "I'll say it again, why do you think I would protect you?"

"I can definitely come up with a reason! [Nephthys's Linker]'s eyes were brimming with tears, "No matter what, I'm willing to do anything!"

"Eunegae! Without your protection, sir, Vatasi!"

Seeing this, [Black Feather - Great Banner of the Warrior] and [Harp Queen] couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, they're really this shameless to surrender?"

Considering that Hayato's forces weren't limited to his own elven tribe, with Black Feather and the Harpies waiting nearby, Nephthys's Linker, eager to demonstrate her worth, decisively declared, "I know a place, a secret land known only to Nephthys and Flame King, a place that leads to the worlds of other elves!"

To be honest, [Nephthys's Linker]'s words really piqued Hayato's interest.

Although the premise of traveling to different worlds might initially give the impression that the other world is as vast and boundless as the original world, just as the human world and the universe are separated into planets, the world of the card sprites can actually be described as "broken".

In the past, Hayato was sent by Anubis to the world of the "Nameless Dragons" using the "Gate of Illusion," which was the world of elves. The world he is currently in, dominated by the Bird-Beast race, is also the world of card elves. Theoretically, the "Valley of the Royal Sleep" of the "Gravekeeper" race, which leads from the back mountain of Duel Academy Island, is also a small elf world. Even the space that Kaiba created under the hot spring in the academy can be considered an elf world.

These worlds differ in terms of how they are entered, their size, whether they have a complete ecological cycle and the ability to generate their own spirits, and they are not even connected to each other. However, it is undeniable that they are all worlds of card spirits.

Hayato remembered very clearly that in the original timeline, when Yubel used the Duel Energy collected by Professor Cobra to revive, he also opened a space jump that took the entire Duel Academy from the island and teleported it to the Pokémon world. It seemed that the place he arrived at was the world of the bird-beast Pokémon, where he encountered the Harpies in the desert of the Harpy Hunting Grounds.

In fact, this is somewhat related to the special nature of Duel Academy Island itself. When it was decided to build Duel Academy here, Kaiba himself came here to conduct an on-site inspection and confirmed that the spatial coordinates here are somewhat special. Not only is it very close to the world of Card Monsters, making it easy for spatial transfer to occur, but it can also passively attach smaller monster worlds like fragments.

This is also the origin of the "Valley of the King's Long Sleep" in the back mountain, and the underlying principle of how the seahorse manages to create a small Pokémon world.

However, with the help of John Anderson, who had initially awakened the power of the Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon, the entire Duel Academy was returned to its original position. From this perspective, although the power of Yubel was strong, the power of the Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon was worthy of the "god" in its name.

However, when Jaden and the others tried to return to the world of the Card Spirits through the archway in the back mountain that originally led to the Valley of the Royal Slumber, a place that was the fixed passage to the Gravekeepers, they discovered that the originally broken world of spirits had been integrated and forcibly pieced together into a complete world.

Jaden and his companions were not originally inhabitants of the Elf world. They believed that the Royal Valley of Long Sleep, belonging to the Tomb Guardians, might have been connected to other Elf worlds. However, they encountered a native of the Elf world with whom they could communicate—Tanya, who had once been an enemy of Jaden and his companions as one of the "Seven Stars." Tanya revealed the truth that the current Elf world was forcibly unified without the consent of the natives of their respective worlds.

Even more outrageous is that the guy who is usually inconspicuous, has little presence in crucial moments, and whose name is even hard to pronounce correctly (thankfully Hayato has a good memory and remembers his full name) actually managed to calculate the principle behind the world's combination using the "Grand Unified Theory" he learned from Dr. Bein Stein. He even calculated that there are a total of twelve worlds that have been "merged," a fact that even Tanya, a "local," is unaware of.

It can only be said that it fits Hayato's stereotype of the subject of "mathematics". Other subjects are a big pit, and some big shots rely on accumulation to stand at the top. But mathematics is a bottomless pit, where a bunch of cheaters fly in the sky and fight each other in Gundam.

Now, Yubel has thrown her into this world of birds and beasts that has not yet been "integrated." Considering the timeline, no matter how fast Jaden and the others are progressing, they've only managed to fight Professor Cobra. They haven't even been sent to this world to experience the incredibly realistic card battles that are so different from the virtual world "Duel-Links." Not to mention that Yubel has pieced together countless worlds to create a stage large enough for her and her beloved Jaden to perform together.

In this situation, the [Nephthys's Linkers] claimed that the [Nephthys] possessed a passage to other worlds? Hayato was genuinely curious about where that passage led.

However, it's unlikely to lead to the world of the "Nameless Dragons." After all, if she were to connect with that world, Yubel wouldn't need to bother with any dimensional fusion. No matter how much she collects duel energy and receives the legacy of the "Light Wave," she wouldn't be able to overcome tens of thousands of years of accumulation to go head-to-head with the "Nameless Dragons," who are practically gods in the Elf world. She could probably only manage to fight against the likes of the "Three Egyptian Gods" and the "Three Egyptian Demons."

Thinking of this, Hayato looked at the shameless [Nephthys's Linker] who was still clinging to his leg: "Fine, then you can lead the way for me."

"So that means..." [Nephthys's Linker]'s eyes lit up, and she looked up at Hayato with hopeful eyes, "...Hayato-sama, you're willing to protect me, right?"

"I can't guarantee I won't change my mind~"

"Yay!" Hayato's words were also a tacit admission that he had let [Nephthys's Linker] go, which made the little girl jump up excitedly from the ground and run around in circles in the open space.

The forest elves, with their excellent hearing, had clearly heard Hayato's words. However, due to the intimidation of Black Feather and Harpy, they dared not approach the clearing and were completely helpless against Nephthys's Linker, who was so audacious as to make faces at them.

"What a shameless fellow," an elf said sourly, seemingly envious of the [Nephthys's Linker] who had successfully joined Hayato's ranks. The elf next to him also sensed his jealousy and said helplessly, "What can you do? Being able to become Lord Hayato's dog is the greatest honor in itself."

Some of the more clueless card sprites still didn't understand: "So, in the end, that guy who looked like a warrior actually stole the power of our bird-beast race's so-called 'Absolute King'?"

The elf standing nearby retorted, "Still don't you understand? The prophecy already made the truth quite clear."

"'The absolute king of birds and beasts will be born in the center of the forest.' The so-called 'center of the forest' is actually determined entirely by the actual ruler of this forest. Although the newborns called 'Wind-Traveling Birds' are indeed powerful, they are actually just a force."

"The one who truly became the 'Absolute King' was none other than the existence of that person named Hayato Kobayashi."

[Ding! You have a new achievement reward to claim]

[Achievement: Defeated the entire world single-handedly!]

Chapter 1734 The Three Gods of the Astral Realm

[Achievement: Defeated the entire world single-handedly!]

[Completion Condition: Be recognized by all beings in the world as superior to them]

Current progress: 114514 (Completed) / ALL

Hayato casually opened the system and looked at the system interface, which hadn't appeared in a long time and was now showing its presence for the first time. He read the description of the newly completed achievement in the achievement section.

"What do you mean by 'being recognized by all beings in the world as superior to them'? I just played a game of cards in the forest in front of those elves, and that scared all the elves in this elf world?"

Hayato thought about it and realized that perhaps he had proven his strength by defeating Nephthys and Flame King. At the same time, Black Feather and Harpy were also intimidated by his previous actions. From this perspective, it seemed quite normal for the bird and beast spirits in the forest to fear him and acknowledge his superiority over them.

After all, while there are certainly cunning individuals among the elves, they are generally much more honest and simple than humans. If someone is stronger than you, then they are stronger than you. There are very few people who know that the opponent is stronger but still stubbornly refuse to admit defeat—you agree, right, Mr. Kaiba Corporation president who likes to wear a long white trench coat and whose XP is [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] and wishes to remain anonymous?

After checking the system, Hayato discovered that the main reason he couldn't complete this mission in the human world where he originally lived, but only succeeded in the spirit world, was that there was a Seto Kaiba in the human world who was always stubbornly insisting that he would "surpass him soon" and refused to admit that he was stronger than him. Apart from that, even troublemakers like Saiou and Kagemaru had at least admitted that he was stronger than them.

However, as long as even one person disagrees, this achievement cannot be completed. Therefore, it was only after Hayato came to the Spirit World, demonstrated his strength, and intimidated the relatively small number of Spirits in this world that this achievement was considered complete.

However, exploring the conditions for achieving the achievement is not very meaningful, since I have already completed it. What is more important is the reward that the achievement can obtain.

[Achievement Reward: 1000 DP points, and a specific deck based on the deck attributes used to achieve the achievement]

Hayato wouldn't mind having a fixed 1000 points; having them is good enough. The key point is the deck he used to achieve the achievement. If it were in the human world where he originally lived, the deck Hayato used when he became the Duel King was a mix of cards like "Armed Dragon" and "Gaia," but ultimately it was a "God" attribute deck that used two "Phantom Gods" to deliver the decisive blow.

However, the deck Hayato used to complete the achievement in this world was the [Wind-Traveling Bird] deck, whose main attributes are water and wind, with wind having a higher proportion.

So, he'll get another wind attribute deck this time? After looking at the reward he was going to receive, Hayato decided to accept it on the spot—after all, he was currently sitting on the summoned beast Merkaba, summoned by the summoner Aleister, heading to the secret place mentioned by Nephthys's Linker.

Even considering the speed of [Summoned Beast - Merkaba], the journey is not short, giving you plenty of time to carefully check the newly acquired cards.

Hayato even checked the system achievements only after confirming the [Wind-Walking Bird] cards. Before that, after discovering that there was only one of each type of [Wind-Walking Bird] monster card in his deck, he even went to the system shop to exchange the [Robin], [Bald Eagle], and [Emperor Penguin] cards for three cards each.

When Hayato opened the achievement reward deck, he found that the deck cover was not the green that he thought symbolized by the wind attribute, but rather the blue that represented the water attribute. This meant that the newly obtained deck could not be the [Dragon Riders] or [Gentle Breeze] decks. Hayato had initially thought that if the achievement was completed in the world of Winged Beast Elves, the reward deck would probably also be a Winged Beast deck.

Then he couldn't help but wonder, could it be the invincible [Ice Barrier]? Or perhaps [Ice Water], which is closely related to [Swordsmanship]? Playing a [Shadow] deck that allows for accelerated Synchro Summoning, also known as [Strange Fish], wouldn't be bad either. He couldn't possibly give himself a [Arctic Bear] deck, could he? That deck with its own version of the Archon Spell Card that draws seven cards even more than [Heavenly Treasure Card], and the "Bear Loss Cleverness" that couldn't even make up for lost cards...

Hayato mentally reviewed the Synchro decks he remembered that primarily featured the Water attribute. As for why he didn't think about Fusion decks, it's because there are only so many Water attribute Fusion monsters. Excluding the Ordinary Fusion, about half of the remaining monsters are [E. Hero] monsters such as [E. Hero Sailor] and [M. Hero Acid], so he also excluded those.

Of the remaining cards, [Magical Toy] is a card associated with Napoleon, [Swamp Dragon King] is only a card from the series and doesn't really make up a deck, and Hayato already has cards like [Shadowdome Lilith] or [Ice Dragon Trident], as well as [Star Palace Lion Treasure Dragon Demon] from the [Star Dragon] series. It's almost certain that if the deck focuses on the Water attribute, Hayato won't be able to get cards for a Fusion deck.