Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

【Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl】【DEF1800→1700】

[Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] [DEF 2300→2200]

"Hmph, [Lava Demon] is one of your favorite cards, isn't it, Hayato Kobayashi?" Valentine said smugly. "What, I've delivered your favorite card to your field, you should be happy, right?"

"Happy? Not bad. Although [Radiant] was sent to the graveyard before it even transformed, at least I have an empty monster zone on the field." Hayato played a card from his hand. "I'm going to activate the effect of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle], which I searched for earlier."

"This card can be activated during the turn of both players when either card has an effect other than 'Silver Castle Princess' or when a normal Trap Card has been activated. Special Summon this card from my hand in Defense Position."

【The Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle】【8☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

【3000/2900→3100/3000】

"The second effect of 【Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle】 is that as long as I have a face-down card on my field, this card cannot be destroyed by my opponent's card effects, and my opponent cannot target this card with their card effects."

"Undestroyable? Tch, did you foresee the future?" Valentine glanced at a card in his hand and, without hesitation, played it out. "But only that one card has resistance to destruction, right? Spell Card [Black Hole] activated!"

"Destroy all monsters on both sides' fields! However, I don't have a single monster card on my field right now, so in the end, all four of your monster cards except for 'Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle' will be destroyed!"

Hayato raised an eyebrow, giving Valentine a second look—compared to the weakling seven years ago who couldn't even duel and died at lightning speed because he coveted the power of the Millennium Key, Valentine's starting hand was now quite powerful.

The five known cards are [PSY Skeleton Gear - γ], [Lava Demon], [Pot of Greed], [Hades Barrier Wave], and [Black Hole]. They have everything from counters, releases, and sustain, making them a "champion's starting hand" and at least very suitable for playing as the second player.

No wonder Valentine was so decisive in giving up the first turn just now. After all, if he had switched from going second to going first, this hand of cards would have gone from a "perfect hand" to a "hand disaster".

“What a pity, Valentine, what a pity,” Hayato said regretfully. “Although I don’t know what your last card was, it would have been better if that card had been a face-down card, at least your [Black Hole] could have been activated smoothly—instead of being countered by me.”

"Trap Card [Sword Demon's Domain] activated! When your opponent activates the effect of a Spell/Trap Card, if your opponent has no face-down cards on their field, you can activate this effect to negate it!"

Previously discarded from Hayato's hand as the cost of activating the effect of "Silver Castle's Fire Furnace", "God-Sword Demon - Mizuko-no-Kami" reappears in Hayato's graveyard, accompanied by water spreading in the form of ripples on the ground. With its legs slightly bent and body turned to the side, it is charging up in an iaido posture.

A blue illusion of a flowing water dragon appeared behind him. As Valentine's [Black Hole] was about to take effect, [God-Slaying Sword Demon - Water Guardian] suddenly drew his sword and unleashed a strike that could even annihilate a [Black Hole]!

"Extreme Demon Sword Technique: Storm Style!"

Step forward, draw sword, Iaijutsu, Blood Flick, sheath sword—the attack was completed in the blink of an eye. [The Divine Sword Demon - Mizuko no Kami] had quietly disappeared from Hayato's field, and Valentine's [Black Hole] was also split in half, its destructive power dissipating into nothingness!

Valentine's [Black Hole], which he was determined to use, failed to achieve any results. He then discovered that despite activating [Sword Demon God Domain], Hayato's back row had not lost a single face-down card.

Chapter 2101 Dragon Maid Maze - Part 4

"Wait a minute! Did you cheat?!" Valentine looked at Hayato. "You should have only had two face-down cards left in your back row just now. After activating [Sword Demon God Domain], why do you still have two face-down cards?!"

"Heh, do I need to cheat to deal with someone like you?" Hayato sneered. "I'll have an extra face-down card because of the effect of my [Silver Castle of Labyrinth] on the field."

"Because you failed to activate the card in response to my activation of [Sword Demon Realm], my [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] followed the effect's chain and can only be activated when a normal Trap Card is activated."

"A Normal Trap Card with a different name than that card was set from my deck and placed on the field."

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, hand cards: 2→1]

[Rabilins of Silver City] [ATK3000]

【Lava Demon】【ATK3100】

【Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl】【DEF1700】

[Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] [DEF2200]

【The Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle】【DEF3000】

Backcourt: [Half-Dragon Maid Greets Us] [GaiKa (Rabilins Welcomes, Welcomes, Big Welcome)] [GaiKa]

Seeing that Hayato still had a field full of monsters, Valentine looked at the last card in his hand and said confidently, "Although you survived my first five cards, Hayato Kobayashi, if I pull out five more cards, can your monsters still hold out?"

"My last card in hand—[Heavenly Treasure]—is activated!"

The last card Fanny Valentine held in his hand was none other than the strongest draw card in all of Duel Monsters: [Treasure Card from Heaven]!

"Under this card's effect, both duelists can draw cards from their decks until they each have six cards in their hand!" Valentine held out his hand. "This is my last hand, so I can draw a full six cards at once!"

"And since I still have one card in my hand, I can only draw five?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. "I hate it when others get more cards than me. So, chain [Heavenly Treasure], I'll activate the effect of [Silver Castle's Mad Clock] that I just added to my hand!"

With that, Hayato discarded his last card: "I can activate this effect by discarding this card from my hand. If I have a Silver Castle monster on my field this turn, I can activate a Normal Trap Card on the turn I set it. This effect can also be activated during my opponent's turn."

As Hayato discards his hand, his hand also becomes empty. Although the two face-down cards on his back row were both set up this turn, they become equivalent to having been set up for a turn under the effect of [Silver Castle's Mad Clock], and can be activated at any time.

However, since Hayato has already activated one of the cards [Labyrinth Welcome, Welcome, Great Welcome] during the preparation phase, this card, which has a card name limit of once per turn, cannot be used even if it is in a state where it can be activated. Only the other card that Hayato set is truly in a state where it can be activated.

More importantly, because Hayato's hand is empty, he can now draw six cards at once from the [Heavenly Treasure Card]!

【小林隼人：4000LP，手牌：2→1→0→6】

【法尼·瓦伦泰：4000LP，手牌：5→4→3→4→3→2→1→6】

Having replenished his hand with a large number of cards, Fanny Valentine became even more confident as he looked at his newly drawn cards: "I don't want to be too rude, but Kobayashi Hayato, I'm afraid I've already won this duel, because I've drawn some pretty terrifying cards!"

"The source of this power is even yourself! Come and experience the power of 'Dream Prison'!" Valentine flipped a card over, revealed it, and played it. "You can activate this effect by sending one [Gem Knight] Normal Monster or one [Gem Knight Fusion] from your Deck to the Graveyard!"

"I send 'Gem Knight Fusion' from my deck to the Graveyard, and then Special Summon 'Gem Knight: Dream Prison Core' from my hand in Defense Position!"

The shadow beneath Valentine's feet suddenly twisted and rolled, and a knight wearing black and red armor with wild red hair rose from it. The special effects of his appearance were exactly the same as those of Hayato's [Shadowdew] technique.

The black and red knight also wielded a flaming magic sword, much like Levadin from Norse mythology.

Hayato certainly recognized the monster in front of him—after all, there are fewer than ten cards in the entire Duel Monsters that can be associated with the words "Dream Prison," and excluding a few cards that just happen to have a few words that don't actually have any connection, there are only four cards that are truly strongly associated.

The [Gem Knight: Dream Prison Core] before him was the same card as the [Shaddoll's Flame Core: Dream Prison] he possessed, but compared to the [Shaddoll's Flame Core: Dream Prison], which absorbed Shaddoll power and transformed into [God Shaddoll: Divine Crystal], the [Gem Knight: Dream Prison Core] was relatively weaker.

【Gem Knight: Dream Prison Core】【7☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[1950/2450]

"Be surprised that a familiar monster has appeared on my field, Hayato Kobayashi!" Valentine said smugly. "Seven years ago, you disrupted my plans with that power called [Shadowdome Divine Crystal], which led to my first death."

"But you would never guess that I turned misfortune into a blessing, touching upon a powerful force, thus gaining the possibility of being born into this world, a possibility known as the [Gem Knight]!"

"Their unborn selves, and my undeathed self—this contradictory yet harmonious combination will become the tool to guide my dreams into reality. And the first thing I need to do is to eliminate you, Hayato Kobayashi!"

Valentine said, playing another card from his hand: "Next, I'll activate the magic card [Gem Knight Dispersion]!"

The term "dispersion" refers to the colored light reflected by gemstones such as diamonds under the influence of light. White light is decomposed into spectral colors due to the gemstone's cutting proportions and internal reflections, as if a rainbow were created out of thin air.

Originally, as one of the two competing with the [Jewel Beast], Valentine's [Gem Knights] also indirectly mastered the "Rainbow Power".

Unlike the Rainbow Dragon's power, which is a "rainbow bridge" pieced together by bonds and can cross space, the "rainbow light" released by the Gem Knights is like the principle of "dispersion," a destructive force of "separation" and "deconstruction"!

"Use monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Material to Fusion Summon one [Gem Knight] Fusion Monster. However, if there is a [Gem Knight Fusion] in my Graveyard, you may also use up to two [Gem Knight] monsters other than Rock-Type monsters from my Deck or Extra Deck as Fusion Material!"

Valentine took out a card and said, "The fusion materials I chose are the Thunder-Type monster [Gem Knight Topaz] from my Extra Deck, the Thunder-Type monster [Gem Knight Prism], and the [Gem Knight Dream Prism] on my field!"

"The fusion material requirement is met: [Jewel] Monster Tri-Body!"

"O secret stone entwined with lightning, O demonic crystal possessed by lightning, O blackened white crystal returned from the underworld! Entangle your radiance into a vortex, merge with the new radiance, and manifest!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 9!" Valentine raised a card and slammed it onto the Duel Disk.

"The supreme radiance that illuminates all things—[Gem Knight King: Brilliant Diamond - Dispersion]!"

【Gem Knight King - Brilliant Diamond - Dispersion】【9☆/Earth】

[Rock Element/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2600]

The [Gem Knight King - Diamond-Dispersion] that recently defeated Ōyamahira has been summoned again by Valentine through fusion.

However, it disintegrated immediately upon its appearance!

"【Gem Knight King - Diamond - Dispersion】Although it has an attack power of up to 3000 points, it is not enough to defeat the monsters on Kobayashi Hayato's field."

"Therefore, I will use another power beyond its formidable offensive capabilities. That is, the effect that can only be activated by sending it to the graveyard during the main phase of both sides' battles!"

Valentine waved his hand, "The disintegrated [Gem Knight King Diamond - Dispersion] can be re-dispersed into three [Gem Knight] monsters. Special Summon up to three [Gem Knight] monsters with different names other than Rock-Type monsters from my Extra Deck or Graveyard, ignoring their Summoning conditions!"

"I will Special Summon the Aqua-type [Jewel Knight Sapphire], the Fire-type [Jewel Knight Ruby], and the Fairy-type [Jewel Knight Lady Rose Diamond] from my Extra Deck!"

【Gem Knight - Blue Jade】【6☆/Land】

[Aquarium/Fusion/Effect]

[1400/2600]

【Gem Knight - Ruby】【6☆/Land】

[Fire Clan/Fusion/Effect]

[2500/1300]

【Gem Knight Lady - Rose Diamond】【8☆/Land】

[Angel Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2700/2400]

The three [Gem Knight] monsters appeared one after another on Valentine's field. Although their attacks were not as powerful as the previous [Gem Knight King Diamond - Dispersion], they were finally able to barely contend with Hayato's monsters in terms of momentum.

"The side effect of the effect of 【Gem Knight King Diamond - Dispersion】 causes me to enter a self-restriction this turn, meaning that I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck except for Fusion Monsters."

“But my turn to play isn’t over yet!” Valentine said, drawing another card from his hand. “Next, I’ll use the effect of this [Gem Knight Quartz] card!”

"If your opponent controls a monster, you can discard this card from your hand to activate this effect. Set one Fusion Continuous Spell Card from your Deck to your field. Then, this turn, you cannot Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck that are not Gem Knights."

"I set the Continuous Spell Card [Bright Fusion], and then activate the Continuous Spell Card [Bright Fusion]."

As Valentine activated the card he had set to the back row, a bright white crystal appeared on his field, releasing a suction force that continuously absorbed power from all around.

"As part of the effect processing when this card is activated, I can use monsters from my Deck as Fusion Material to Fusion Summon a single [Gem Knight] Fusion Monster. When [Bright Fusion] leaves the field, that monster is destroyed."

Valentine took cards from his deck: "I'm sending [Gem Knight Neferu], [Gem Knight Quartz], and [Gem Knight Emerald] from my deck to the graveyard!"

"Stone spirit bound by the threads of the dead, stone maiden born from the raw stone, green radiance calling for good fortune!"

"May this bright flash transform into a dazzling light!"

"Fusion Summon, Level 10☆!"

"Dazzling and dazzling—[Gem Knight Lady - Sparkling Diamond]!"

【Gem Knight Lady - Diamond】【10☆/Local】

[Rock Element/Fusion/Effect]