Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The answer to Chapter 459 is Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

"An absolute certainty of victory? Nameless Pharaoh, are you actually saying I'm arrogant?" Rafael looked at the [Chaos Magician] in defense position on the field, then pointed to his [Guardian-Aetos]. "My [Guardian-Aetos] now has an attack power of 4000 points. Can any other Duel Monster do that?"

"Not only that, but Ethos, equipped with the Power of the Guardian, can replace destruction with the removal of magic counters. If you want to defeat me and take the Divine Flame Emperor - Uria from my hands, he is the one you must defeat."

"Can you surpass me, nameless pharaoh?"

Rafiru said, face down the cards in his hand, "Cover my last card, end of turn."

[Rafiru: 2000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Guardian - Aetos】(Guardian Power)【ATK4000】

[GaiK] X2

Upon hearing this, the game frowned.

In the previous few rounds, Rafael suddenly became serious after summoning [Guardian-Aetos]. He not only destroyed [Dark Magician] and [Dark Magician Girl], which had previously dominated the field, one by one, sending them to the graveyard, but also used the effect of [Guardian-Aetos] to banish monsters from the graveyard and increase the attack power of [Guardian-Aetos].

After the game spent resources to finally destroy [Guardian - Ethos], Rafael revived him and equipped him with [Guardian Power].

Due to the information asymmetry, the game did not expect that the [Guardian Power] would have virtually unlimited destructive resistance. After several rounds of attack and defense, the game's resources were almost exhausted, but the number of magic counters on the [Guardian Power] was stacked to three.

[Game: 400LP, 3 cards in hand]

[Chaos Magician] [DEF2100]

【GaiKa】

Looking down at his hand, he saw [Dimensional Fusion], [Mysterious Chinese Pot], and [Altar of Resurrection]. [Dimensional Fusion] could Special Summon all banished monsters from both sides back to the field, but it had a restriction that required paying 2000 LP to activate. With his current 400 Life Points, he didn't have enough to activate this card.

However, if I use the Mysterious Chinese Pot to activate the Chaos Magician on my field, it is possible, but then I would have to find a monster among the banished monsters that is strong enough to defeat Rafael's Guardian Ethos.

“Mere wishful thinking won’t verify whether the predicted future will come true. In that case, I’ll pin my hopes for victory on this card draw.” Yugi’s eyes met Rafael’s. Confident in his monsters and the defenses he had set down, Rafael sensed the burning fighting spirit in Yugi’s eyes. “【Guardian-Ethos】, I and my deck will defeat it!”

"My turn, draw a card!"

After drawing the card from his hand, Yugi flipped it over and smiled upon seeing the card he had drawn: "Then let me surpass [Guardian - Aetos] this turn!"

"I activate the spell card 'Inheritance of Dark Magic,' banishing two spell cards from my graveyard—'Forbidden Cloth' and 'Magician's Rescue,' and then add one spell/trap card with the name 'Dark Magician' or 'Dark Magician Girl' from my deck to my hand."

After inserting the card he had just drawn into the Spell & Trap Zone, Yugi didn't rush to search for cards in his deck. Instead, he pointed to the [Chaos Spell] on his field, saying, "But before that, I'm going to activate the chain effect of [Chaos Spell]!"

"Although the [Guardian's Power] can protect [Guardian-Aetos] from destruction as long as there are magic counters, it shouldn't have any resistance to itself, right?" Yugi said confidently with a smirk. "The dragon's reverse scale is its hardest scale, but destroying it will expose its greatest weakness!"

The Chaos Mage gathered the scattered magic power from the Inheritance of Black Magic and transformed it into a magical arrow. With a flick of his wrist, the arrow aimed directly at the Guardian's Power equipped on the Guardian-Aetos!

Once the [Guardian's Power] is destroyed, the troublesome battle/effect destruction resistance of [Guardian-Aetos] will disappear, and its attack power will drop back to 2500 points. Even without using other monsters, [Chaos Magician] alone can destroy it.

"Tch, you saw through it? Not bad eye."

Rafael frowned as he discovered that the game had found one of the weaknesses of [Guardian-Aetos]. "But if the same move is used too many times, how can others not be on guard? Your ability to use [Chaos Magic] to destroy cards once per turn is exactly what I calculated!"

"Open the card, [Skill Breakthrough]!"

Just as the flying magic arrow was about to break through the Guardian's Power under the control of the Chaos Mage, the figure of the Guardian - Etos suddenly disappeared from Rafael's field.

Meanwhile, the Chaos Mage, who was focused on controlling the magic arrow, was momentarily stunned by the disappearance of the target and was completely unaware that the Guardian Ethos had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

As the sword flashed, although the Chaos Mage made a dodge move the moment the Guardian-Aetos made his move, the sword severed the Chaos Mage's staff, which was used to block the attack.

[Guardian-Aetos] landed a successful blow, but [Chaos Mage], who remembered that she was actually a melee mage, kicked her back onto Raferu's field. However, her goal had already been achieved. Although [Chaos Mage] still possessed powerful magic without the aid of her wand, she could no longer use powerful magic as freely as before, and even the patterns on her robes were no longer vibrant.

The game clicked its tongue in displeasure.

He originally thought that if he were to activate [Dimensional Fusion], the release of [Chaos Magic] would be inevitable, and in that case, he would have to consider how to fully unleash the power of [Chaos Magic].

Although "Mysterious Chinese Pot" is also a Spell Card that can trigger the effect of "Chaos Magician", if the target of the Tribute is "Chaos Magician", it cannot activate this effect if it is in the Graveyard. Yugi then thought of using "Inheritance of Dark Magic" to make the last bit of "Chaos Magician" work.

However, the game wasn't too disappointed. If it were that easy to break through [Guardian Power], it would be a huge underestimation of Rafael, who had been entangled with him for several rounds. It was expected that the opponent would set up defensive cards.

"Because the effect of [Chaos Magician] was negated, [Inheritance of Dark Magic] was reprocessed, and I added a card from my deck to my hand." After retrieving a card from his deck, Yugi drew [Mysterious Chinese Pot]. "Since [Chaos Magician] can't defeat [Guardian - Etos], let's trade opponents."

"The Spell Card 'Mysterious Chinese Pot' is activated, which releases 'Chaos Magician' on my field. My Life Points are then restored to the value of 'Chaos Magician's' ATK, which is 2500 points!"

Seeing that the game had actually released its monster, Rafael snorted disdainfully but said nothing.

For a long time, many people in the Duel Monsters community, like myself, were reluctant to send their favorite monsters to the graveyard, but instead tried to save them during battles.

However, it seems that starting from Duel City, or even earlier, a dueling style suddenly became popular, with phrases like "XXX, I love you so much, I'll destroy you for you," "I'd rather fry my XXX than let you destroy me," and "Sacrifice for the greater good, XXX!" which involved destroying one's monsters in various ways in order to win.

No matter how you look at it, it's all Kobayashi Hayato's fault. As the Duel King, he actually led the duelists' style astray on this wrong path. That person's idea was right; there really is something wrong with this world!

Rafael's mood worsened the more he thought about it, and his gaze toward the game gradually became unpleasant.

Yami Yugi was unaware of Rafael's thoughts; in his view, there was nothing wrong with sending his monster to the graveyard.

The game frequently uses cards like "Kuriboh" and even often features a suicidal strategy of mass-producing self-destructing troops using "Proliferation" + "Machine Mines".

The monsters in Jonouchi are all very good at returning to the field from the graveyard after being destroyed. After getting the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], which is very suitable for repeatedly jumping between the field and the graveyard, Jonouchi's "resurrection" behavior has become even more rampant.

Hayato goes without saying, and even Kaiba often uses the [Destruction Wheel] + [Defense Wheel] combo when beating weaker opponents.

Since the duelists he recognized could accept, and even participated in, this practice, it's no wonder that Yami Yugi didn't see anything wrong with sending monsters to the graveyard. Even he himself regularly included cards like "Super Electromagnetic Turtle" and "Catapult Turtle" in his deck, cards that needed to be sent to the graveyard or that required sending other monsters to the graveyard.

[Game: 400 → 2900 LP]

The Life Points, which had almost plummeted to rock bottom and could have been wiped out with just one Fireball, rebounded to 2900. With ample Life Points, the game didn't dwell on this number for long, but instead drew a card and played it on the field.

[Game: 2900 → 900 LP]

"Hmm?" Rafael was somewhat surprised that the game's base score, which had been soaring just moments before, was now plummeting. "He didn't even bother to keep the base score he earned by trading his weirdness; he just squandered it like that."

"Nameless Pharaoh, don't you care at all about the sacrifice of your own monster?"

Yugi felt something was off listening to Rafael's words. Shouldn't anyone else be concerned about what cards they were going to use after spending so many Life Points? Why was this guy asking me if I cared about my monsters?

I slaughtered my way from Baicaoyuan to Sanweishu in three days without even blinking. You ask me if my eyes are dry?

Although he secretly wondered if Rafael was seriously ill, Yugi's reply was quite serious: "Do you think it's necessary to constantly talk about the sacrifices of Duel Monsters, Rafael? I think differently from you."

“Every monster that sacrifices itself in battle contributes its power to me. As a duelist, all I can do is remember their sacrifice and make the most of it.” The game’s gaze turned to the graveyard area of ​​the Duel Disk.

【Magical Transformation - Rijin】, 【Dark Magician】, 【Dark Magician Girl】, 【Chaos Magician】... All these monsters exist in his memory. Although only 【Chaos Magician】 remains in the graveyard and the other monsters have been eliminated, Yugi can feel that each monster is actually in his hands, accompanying him.

"Just dwelling on the monsters' departure and sacrifice doesn't change anything or have any meaning. Winning this duel is the best way to repay the monsters who trusted me."

In the back row of the game, the card "Dimensional Fusion" appears, supplied with the full 2000 life points that the game provided. Above Rafael and the game, space shatters, revealing a passage that connects the monsters that were eliminated one by one in this duel.

"Besides, as for 'squandering base points' and such," Yugi's lips curled into a confident smile, "cards are meaningless if they're not used at the right time."

"According to Hayato, it seems to be the words of someone who has disappeared from everyone's memory. Although I don't quite understand what it means, I quite agree with what he said."

With the help of [Magician-Rishin], [AD Changer] was dragged out of the void. The two [Dark Magicians] with completely identical expressions stood side by side, busy staring at each other, completely unaware of the plea for help from [Dark Magician Girl] who had only crawled halfway out of the void and was stuck by the waist, looking like an unfolded doujinshi.

Meanwhile, on the other side, led by the [Support Guardian], the [Weapon Summoner], [Sun Warrior], and [Sun Guardian], who had appeared in the previous battles, were not to be outdone and returned to the sky above the arena from the other dimension one by one.

All the monsters that appeared in the previous rounds were returned from the excluded other-dimensional world, and the scene, like the Avengers gathering, along with the words spoken before the game, were instilled in Rafael's heart.

“If all you think about is leaving and sacrificing, nothing can be changed, and it has no meaning whatsoever…” Rafael’s gaze drifted toward the Guardian Ethos on his field, and he was reminded of the past.

With a wavering in his heart, Rafael raised his hand and touched the green gem pendant on his chest. Feeling the warmth that was not like that of a stone, Rafael forced himself to refocus his will.

“No, I’m not dwelling on the past. The painful past has only made me realize more clearly that the Lord’s thoughts were not wrong at all.” Looking up at the monsters that were about to jump down from the passage, Rafael pressed the button on the Duel Disk to activate the face-down card. “Sorry, Nameless Pharaoh.”

"You just said, 'Defeat the Guardian - Aetos,' didn't you? As punishment for hindering that person's plan, I will extinguish your hope!"

"Quick-Play Spell Card: Burial from Another Dimension!"

Chapter 460 Controlling Chaos

"You just said, 'Defeat the Guardian - Aetos,' didn't you? As punishment for hindering that person's plan, I will extinguish your hope!"

"Quick-Play Spell Card: Burial from Another Dimension!"

As the game's [Dimensional Fusion] takes effect, the two [Dark Magician] and [Dark Magician Girl], [AD Changer], and [Madoka-Rizhin] all jump out of the void passage and descend from the sky to land on the game's field.

However, a spatial tunnel suddenly appeared on the trajectory of the two Dark Mages and Dark Magician Girls as they fell, swallowing them up before they could react.

"While 【Dimensional Fusion】 can return banished monsters to the field as much as possible, this 'as much as possible' has its limits. Once selected and the summoning begins, it cannot be changed."

"The effect of 【Burial from Another Dimension】 is to return up to three banished monsters from both sides to the owner's Graveyard. In this way, you spend 2000 Life Points to summon only two monsters with not very high ATK, 【AD Changer】 and 【Magician-Rizhin】, to the field."

"As for [Dark Magician] and [Dark Magician Girl], they cannot be summoned because they have returned to your graveyard."

Rafael looked at the [AD Changer] and [Magician-Rizhin] that had landed on the field, as well as the monsters on his own field.

【Backup Guardian】【DEF2200】

[Weapon Summoner] [DEF1600]

【Guardian of the Sun】【DEF2100】

【Warrior of the Sun】【DEF1400】

【Guardian - Aetos】【ATK4000】

Apart from Guardian-Ethos, which is equipped with Guardian Power, Rafael also benefited from the effect of Yugi's Dimensional Fusion, which filled his entire field. However, he placed all the summoned monsters on the field in Defense Position, including Guardian of the Sun with 2400 ATK and Warrior of the Sun with 2100 ATK.

Calling him timid is fine; Rafiru's caution is necessary. Although his base score is now over 2000 points, more than double the game's total, he won't let his guard down because of this lead and will remain vigilant at all times.

Even the [Guardian of the Sun] with an attack power of 2400 could be instantly killed by a 12-star fusion monster with an attack power of 4500 if it were in attack position. Although the probability is small, Rafael, who felt that he was only one step away from victory, thought that he should play it safe for now.

Even if the field is completely covered, there is still only one monster in attack position: [Guardian Ethos]. This means that if Yugi Muto wants to defeat himself in this turn, attacking [Guardian Ethos] is still his only option, rather than using the monsters that appear on his field through the effect of [Dimensional Fusion] as a breakthrough point.

Seeing this, Jonouchi, who was standing outside the arena, covered his head with his hands and exclaimed, "Oh no, this is terrible!"

"Despite spending so many life points, all that was summoned were two monsters that weren't even qualified to be used as shields. The strongest [Dark Magician] and [Dark Magician Girl] didn't even make it onto the field!"

"But the game's base score is down to just 900 points, which is like a candle flickering in the wind in the face of so many powerful monsters!"

"The game is in grave danger!"

A panicked Jonouchi looked at Yugi with a worried expression: "That guy actually brought a card like 'Burial from Another Dimension'. He kept banishing all the monsters in Yugi's graveyard before, probably trying to trick Yugi into using a card like 'Dimensional Fusion' that Special Summons monsters from the banished area. How cunning!"

"Could it be that he's been controlling the pace of the game the whole time?"

However, Yugi's face did not show the panic or surprise that Jonouchi had expected. Despite the fact that his [Dimensional Fusion], which cost a lot of Life Points, had been blocked by the three most powerful monsters, Yugi's face instead showed a confident smile.

"So now you've used up all your cards, right?"

"What?" Rafael didn't quite catch what Yugi said and frowned as he looked at the smiling Yugi.

"At the start of this turn, you had two face-down cards in your back row. First, the effect of [Chaos Magician] detected one of them, and then [Dimensional Fusion] consumed the second one."