Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Although Pegasus's castle looks like a classic Western European castle, Pegasus is, after all, the head of International Illusion and a genius game designer; he's not some outdated relic who can't keep up with the times. It may look like an ordinary castle, but the technology inside is anything but basic.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the paving stones in the open space in front of the castle split open, revealing a large rectangular hole. From the ground of the castle, a large piece of equipment quickly rose up, which turned out to be a dueling arena equipped with the virtual projection system of Haima Group!

The dueling arena was painted in two different colors. The left side of the arena was a simulated lush forest; while the right side was a plain covered with dense pasture. The left dueling arena was empty, clearly prepared for Hagumo, while on the right side, Hayato was already standing on the arena, waiting for Hagumo to enter the arena.

"The two participants in this exhibition match are Haga Boy, who won the Japanese National Tournament, and Hayato Boy, a special guest of this Duel Kingdom Tournament. Although he is not well-known, in my opinion, Hayato Boy is also a good fighter in Duel Monsters~" Pegasus temporarily acted as the referee, introducing the two players on the terrace.

But neither Hayato nor Yugi paid any attention to their surroundings once they stepped onto the dueling ring: "Hey, you insect bastard, betting two stars isn't a problem, is it? This time, I'm going to kick you straight out of the Duel Kingdom!"

"Damn you, Hayato Kobayashi! I haven't forgotten what happened yesterday. You're dreaming too soon. You're the one who's going to be kicked out!" Haga touched her eye socket with one hand, and her fingertips still felt pain when they touched it. "No, being kicked out of Duel Kingdom isn't enough. If you lose the match, you can never touch anything related to Duel Monsters again!"

"Do as you please, but our terms are equal. I'm going to gamble my deck, my chips, and my future, and I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

Pegasus could naturally hear Hayato and Yuga exchanging barbs. Seeing that the two players had finished their "friendly" exchange, he waved his hand and declared, "Then I hereby announce that the exhibition match of the Duel Kingdom Tournament, which is also the first official match, has officially begun!"

"Duel!" *2

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Yumo: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll take the first strike!" Haga was a step ahead of Hayato, drawing five cards and seizing the advantage. Looking at the cards in her hand, Haga revealed a sinister smile. "Hayato, the pain you've caused me will only be appeased if I torture you properly."

"In defense position, I summon a monster, then set three face-down cards. My turn ends!"

【Hyūmo: Hand cards 5→6→2】

"If you can do it, then give it a try. It's best to use your dominant hand. It's more fun to destroy you in your area of ​​expertise."

"My turn, draw a card!"

Hayato looked at the six cards in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. They were all green and dark red, without a single monster card. "Hmm, a perfect hand."

"First, activate the Spell Card, [Rough Man's Expectation]. This can only be activated when there are no monsters on my field. Special Summon one monster of 4 stars or lower from my Deck."

"O pitch-black darkness, descend from the deepest abyss, my Tamashi!"

"[Death Stalker], Skull Stalker!"

[Death Stalker] [3☆/Dark] [Warrior/Normal] [900/800]

The scorpion warrior, clad in armor, appeared amidst the lightning bursting from the magic card. Just as it rejoiced at becoming the vanguard once again, it summoned the moth card to join its summoning chain.

Chapter 59 Flipping the table is an art, and also a skill.

"Even though it's just a lowly monster with only 900 ATK, you're trying to use it as a tribute to summon a higher-level monster, aren't you? Don't even think about it!" Activating her face-down card, Yuga said smugly, "【Cunning Trap Hole】, although it comes at the cost of not being able to activate if there's a trap in the Graveyard, I can destroy two monsters on the field in one go!"

"Let's send it to the grave with my face card!"

The lightning on the Scorpion Warrior [Death Stalker] hadn't completely dissipated when, the instant its foot stepped on the card, a huge crater suddenly appeared in the ground, burying both [Death Stalker] and the card covered by the Moth. The Moth's monster also revealed its true form at that moment: a green locust.

[Locust Slayer] [4 stars/land] [Insect race/effect] [1000/1200]

"It's not over yet. The card I sent to the graveyard is 'Substitute Locust.' When it's sent from my field to the graveyard, I can Special Summon an Insect-Type monster directly from my hand." Yuga revealed a smug smile. "Witness my invincible combo! Come forth, 'Swordhorn Beetle'!"

With sharp, dazzling lightning flashing from its horns, a giant beetle emerged from the spot where the [Substitute Locust] had been swallowed, eyeing Hayato's empty arena menacingly.

【Swordhorn Beetle】【6☆/Earth】【Insect Race/Effect】【2400/600】

"My insect army is endless, so let my lovely bugs devour you little by little, Hayato!" The moth's face was full of ferocity, but limited by his age, Malik, the master of facial expressions, gave him a score of 0. It had no deterrent effect on Hayato and only made him look more repulsive.

The duelists watching were also impressed by the combo that Yuga had displayed:

"To defeat the opponent's summoned monster with just one card and even upgrade the monsters on your own field, is this the strength of a national champion?"

"I've seen that [Swordhorn Beetle]. It not only has an extremely high attack power of 2400 points, but it also has the ability to penetrate defenses. Even if you summon a monster in defense position, it won't be able to buy you time."

Hayato didn't care about what the audience thought. He watched as Haga blew up the cannon fodder (【Death Stalker】: Didn't we agree that I was Tamashi?) and even specially summoned a 6-star monster. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You actually applied the new rules and came up with this kind of combo so quickly? Although you're a scumbag, you're not bad."

"However, my combo is superior to yours! Activate the spell card [Last Words]!"

As Hayato played a card, a small mound rose from the ground beneath the earth where the Death Stalker had just been swallowed by the Cunning Trap. The Death Stalker's arm emerged from the ground, clutching a note that read "Last Words."

"This turn, I can activate this ability when a monster on my field is destroyed and sent to my graveyard. I can Special Summon another monster from my Deck, but its ATK is limited to 1500 or less."

"Hahaha, Muda Muda, what use are monsters with less than 1500 points? In front of my invincible [Swordhorn Beetle], no matter how many small fry come, they are useless. They don't even have the right to block my way!"

Hayato smiled dismissively: "Not only that, I can also tell you that the monster I'm about to summon actually has an attack power of less than 100, but rather 0."

"However, this monster with 0 attack power will destroy your [Swordhorn Beetle]!"

After rummaging through his deck and finding the card he wanted, Hayato slammed the card, along with the monster on it holding his hand, onto the dueling ring: "Come forth, prankster with the most disgusting power in the world, [Disruption Yellow]!"

"Eeya! I'm here~"

The yellow monster appeared on Hayato's field, wiggling its rear end, and was in attack stance despite having an attack power of 0.

[Disruption - Yellow] [2☆/Light] [Orc/Normal] [0/1000]

"Hehehe, as expected, when Big Brother encounters difficulties, he still thinks of me in the end. I really can't do anything with you~" [Disruption·Yellow]'s eyes moved up and down with its nod, seemingly quite satisfied with being the second to appear.

But when it saw the [Swordhorn Beetle] on the field, it immediately revealed its cowardly nature, sitting down on the ground in fright and shrinking back. The [Swordhorn Beetle]'s eyes were fixed on the retreating [Disruption Yellow], as if it couldn't wait to pierce its huge, sharp, deformed horn, like a siege weapon, into its body.

"They actually summoned those weaklings! Were they too scared to move by my powerful [Swordhorn Beetle]?" Moth laughed. "What can those weaklings possibly do?"

"The [Disruption] monsters are indeed just weaklings, but even weaklings are much stronger than a despicable person like you. [Disruption Yellow] is only 0, but someone like you is practically a negative number." After a pause, Hayato picked up a card from his hand. "According to the special rules of the Duel Kingdom, monsters have their own suitable fields."

"The terrain [Forest] on your field can boost the attack and defense of Insect, Beast, Plant, and Beast Warrior monsters by 200 points."

【Swordhorn Beetle】【ATK2400→2600】

"My field environment is [Grassland], and the buff targets Warrior and Beast Warrior monsters."

Yuga had already learned about the rules of Duel Kingdom from Pegasus, so he wasn't surprised by the change in the attack power of the monsters on the field. He just felt a sense of unease: "Your monster [Disruption Yellow] is a Beast-Type monster, it won't be strengthened by the terrain, so why are you emphasizing the terrain rule now!"

“Terrain rules can increase or decrease the difference between monsters, but since the current terrain is not good for me, I’ll just modify it! Activate the Spell Card, [Planet Modification]!” Hayato played a card from his hand, and a semi-circular shield appeared in the center of the field, which began to spread outwards.

As the shield spread, the [Forest] and [Grassland], which originally each occupied half of the field, turned into nothingness, and the attack power of the [Swordhorn Beetle] on the Feather Moth Field returned to its original 2400 points.

"The effect of [Planetary Transformation] is to add a Field Spell to my hand from my deck, and then I will activate the Field Spell that was just added to my hand." Retrieving another card from his deck, Hayato played the Field Spell directly into a newly added special area on the dueling ring.

"Heroes have their stage to fight, and weaklings have their familiar streets. [Land of Disorder] – a magical realm!"

Chapter 60 Disrupting the Monster's Combat Methods

"Heroes have their stage to fight, and weaklings have their familiar streets. [Land of Disorder] – a magical realm!"

The ever-expanding semi-circular shield on the field vanished in a dazzling light. Immediately afterwards, countless small, spherical houses suddenly emerged from the flat ground. The shapes of the houses were so bizarre that they didn't seem like places for humans to live, and in fact, they were.

From the windows of countless small houses, one can see many strange and wonderful creatures hiding inside. Judging from their appearance, they are clearly monsters of the [Disruption Yellow] series, just like the one Hayato encountered on the field.

[Disruption·Yellow] After activating the field magic, she searched around and quickly ran into the house, rummaging through a bunch of strange and unusual things—shovels, kite strings, balls, etc.—moving as skillfully as if she were back in her own home.

"Ah~ I really miss it~ If it weren't for Annie, I thought I would never be able to go home again~" [Disruption Yellow] sighed nostalgically as she walked out of the house, dragging a baseball bat that was bigger than her whole body in both hands.

Okay, this really is their place.

"There's a rare Field Spell Card! I don't even have a single one yet." Looking at Hayato's [Disruptive Land], Haga's face showed envy. Pegasus had only released a new set of card packs a month ago, and although Haga had heard that some people had opened Field Spell cards, he hadn't yet managed to get a single Field Spell suitable for an Insect deck.

"But so what? Even if your monster gets a field boost, it's still just a weakling. My [Swordhorn Beetle] may have become weaker because it lost the field, but that doesn't mean you've become stronger!"

Hayato ignored Haga's taunts and instead gave the order: "Alright, scum, that's enough nostalgia. Take down that beetle over there! Home run!"

"Yes, ani gei!"

After placing the ball properly, [Disruption Yellow] grabbed the baseball bat with both hands, spun around, and after accumulating several rotations of power, the ball was hit by the baseball and smashed straight into the [Swordhorn Beetle] on the field.

"Before you mock me, take a good look at your monster, you insect bastard."

Seeing that Haga was about to say something, Hayato interrupted him before he could finish, pointing at the [Swordhorn Beetle]. Haga looked over and realized that, at some point, all the [Disruption] monsters from the houses in the [Disruption Village] had come out and were repeatedly harassing the [Swordhorn Beetle]—scratching it, splashing red paint, or scattering lime.

In short, they were all thuggish tactics.

Because of the almost endless harassment from the [Disruption] monsters, [Swordhorn Beetle] was filled with intense anger and completely ignored [Disruption Yellow], who had just launched a so-called "home run attack". Now, it turned around and relentlessly pursued the [Disruption] monsters that were scattering and fleeing when they saw that things were not going well, with its body completely turned away from Hayato!

"Huang, aim better!"

"Let's hit this guy's Ass!"

Among the fleeing "Disruptive" monsters, Hayato also spotted Black and Green. They were being chased by the "Swordhorn Beetle" and were running for their lives, but they didn't forget to encourage their brother Yellow to fight harder.

"Nii-san~~~"

Tears streamed down [Disruption Yellow's] face as it wiped them away with a handkerchief it had somehow acquired, waving goodbye to Black and Green, who had finally caught up with it. Just as [Swordhorn Beetle]'s sharp horns delivered a double kill with a single strike, [Disruption Black] and [Disruption Green], the baseball that [Disruption Yellow] had thrown struck its hindquarters.

"boom!"

It was clearly a ball, but it exploded with a bang the moment it hit the target. The almost unsuspecting [Swordhorn Beetle] was blown to pieces in an instant, and the Feather Moth's health was also damaged in the battle.

"That's impossible! My [Swordhorned Beetle]'s attack power is—"

"The effect of [Disruption Land] is that when a [Disruption] monster is on the field, the ATK and DEF values ​​of all monsters on the field will be swapped," Hayato explained to the unconvinced Haga. "Although [Swordhorn Beetle] has a fairly high ATK, the trade-off is that its DEF is far too low."

【Sword-horned Beetle】【ATK2400→600】【DEF600→2400】

[Disruption - Yellow] [ATK0→1000] [DEF1000→0]

[Feathered moth: 4000 LP → 3600 LP]

"Main Phase Two: I will set three cards face down in the back row. End of turn."

Looking at the moth with its head down, seemingly lost in thought, Hayato ended his turn. "I'll say it again, use your dominant hand, you insect moth. I'm going to crush you when you're giving it your all!"

[Hayato: Hand Card 5→6→0]

[Disruptive Yellow] [ATK1000]

[Signature Card][Signature Card][Signature Card]

"My turn, draw a card."

With a gloomy face, Yuga drew a card from his deck. Looking at the card he had just drawn, Yuga hesitated for a moment, but still played it: "Activate the Spell Card, [Heavenly Treasure Card], my hand will be replenished to 6 cards due to its effect." He drew five more cards from his deck, and his hand, which had been down to only one card, was replenished in one go.

"However, I can also enjoy the effect of [Heavenly Treasure]." Hayato's hand had 0 fewer cards than Haga's because of [Heavenly Treasure], and he drew a total of six cards from his deck in one go.

To be honest, Hayato really felt a sense of satisfaction at that moment.

"Damn it, he actually hitched a ride." Haga was quite annoyed watching Hayato draw cards, but he had no choice but to activate [Heavenly Treasure Card]. He had used up most of his hand for that previous combo, and he didn't have many powerful cards left. If he didn't use [Heavenly Treasure Card] to replenish his hand, Hayato would directly attack him next turn, significantly reducing his Life Points.

"Hayato Kobayashi, that 'Disruptive Land' card on your field is really getting in the way. However, your monster will be strengthened because of it, and so will mine! Attack Position Summon 'Skullface Ladybug'!"

A ladybug with a completely black shell appeared on the field of the feather moths, with a skull-like pattern on its back.

[Skullface Ladybug] [4 stars/Earth] [Insectoid/Effect] [500/1500]