Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring] canceled Crowley's search, and [Feather Duster] cleared the pit of [Armor Bomb] but blew out [Summon - Merkaba]. In order to prevent [Fusion] from being canceled, [Heartbreaker] had to be used to trick [Heartbreaker] into canceling. After a round of operations, Hayato really had no resources left to use.

If it weren't for the same effect as the "Angel's Baton" from "Spiral Shot," Hayato wouldn't even be able to play that face-down card in the back row right now.

[Hayato: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia】【ATK2600】

[Spiral Shot Kill] [Gaikka]

"Phew, that's quite impressive. Now it's my turn again. Draw a card." Crowley said casually. "With the activation of [Foresight Savings Account], one turn has passed. In two more turns, I can increase my hand resources by three cards at once."

"However, there's a chance that the effect of [Foresight Savings Account] won't activate, because I might have already defeated you before then."

As he spoke, Crowley activated the card he had just drawn on the field: "I activate the Equip Spell Card I just drew, [Broken Bamboo Light], and equip it to [Magical General Store Merchant] on my field, increasing its ATK by 0."

As Crowley inserted the card into the Duel Disk, a tattered bamboo sword appeared in the cockroach demon's hand. It was so badly broken that just holding it made one worry about whether it would be crushed, let alone used in battle. No wonder it didn't increase any attack power; it was good enough if it didn't get in the way.

However, this seemingly meaningless equipment card has another purpose.

"Then, because I had the [Bamboo Light] Equip Card on the field, before activating it, I added the Spell Card [Golden Bamboo Light] to my hand due to the effect of [Demon Blade Bamboo Light], and drew two cards from my deck. Oh, good luck, I activated the second [Golden Bamboo Light] I drew, and drew two more cards."

As if struck by lightning, Crowley activated the retrieved [Golden Bamboo Light] and drew the same card again. Because of the card's effect, the number of cards in his hand increased to a full three.

Crowley drew one of his cards, looking utterly helpless but also incredibly irritating: "Oh dear, I was trying to maintain the dignity and elegance of a magician, but I wasn't the first one to cause damage. It's so embarrassing, I have no choice but to take it seriously."

"Then, I will perform a normal summon, and the target will be myself!"

As Crowley spoke, he flipped the cards in his hand over to reveal them, "Attack Position Summon [Summoner - Aleister]!"

With his hand raised above his head, Crowley spread his five fingers, and a staff that had once appeared on [Summoned Beast - Merkaba] appeared in his hand. Crowley—or rather, Aleister Crowley—stepped onto his field and stood to the side of [Magic General Store Merchant].

[Summoner - Aleister] [4☆/Dark]

[Mage Race/Effect]

[1000/1800]

Hayato wasn't particularly surprised when Aleister Crowley performed a classic Yu-Gi-Oh! routine—"I summon myself"—after all, he had already guessed his identity beforehand.

Aleister Crowley, or [Summoner-Aleister], is named after a real mystic from Hayato's previous life. He has impressive-sounding titles like "King of Beasts," "Beast of the Apocalypse," and "The Most Evil Man in the World," which make one think of a classic quote from the famous anti-chuunibyou expert, Ms. Hatoko.

Based on such a character, [Summoner-Aleister] is naturally not a benevolent person either. In the Duel Monsters card story, he is a powerful magician who was even called the "Great Sage of the Codex" and ranked among the "Three Great Sages".

The other two members of the "Three Great Sages" are the absolute king of the [Magician] deck, which focuses on magic counters, and the "Great Sage of the Holy Magic" [The Holy Magician King - Endymion]. Hayato's field spell card [Magic City - Endymion] was created by him and named after him.

Then there's the "big sister" of the [Witch Crafts] deck, who excels at activating Spell/Trap Card effects in the Graveyard. She's the "Great Sage of Crystals," [Witch Craftswoman Violet], a great beauty in her youth who seems to have rejuvenated in her old age, and is also a master of magic.

Beyond the card art stories of Duel Monsters, [Summoner Aleister] is also renowned, because he is also a Fusion Summoner. However, he only has one lower-level monster of his own clan, [Summoner Aleister] himself, and the [summoned monsters] that can be fused are basically only subject to certain restrictions on attributes.

This makes the most useful aspect of the ridiculously small [Summoner - Aleister] in other decks as an add-on, appearing in all sorts of random decks. In particular, he has the ability to search for the fusion cards he uses and excellent recycling capabilities, making him incredibly versatile.

Furthermore, because decks with the [Summoner-Aleister] system are mostly filled with female cards such as [Sky Striker], [Shadowdome], [Mischievous Fairy], [Teacher], [Witchcraft], and even [Dragon Maid], [Summoner-Aleister], which is often associated with [Teacher] today and [Nephili] and [Middrash] tomorrow, has earned the reputation of being a "scumbag".

Although Hayato had actually seen the amazing feat of adding [Summoner-Aleister] to a [Zerg] deck full of indescribable alien reptiles, it was so strange that Hayato even took a few extra glances at it at the time.

What's even more noteworthy is that [Summoner - Aleister] once also received the honor of "He changed Fusion," but he was always in the process of competing for this honor with another powerful card that appeared in the same pack, that card being the invincible [Predatory Plant - Blue Lock Dragon Anaconda].

Both had battled it out in the Forbidden/Limited Card List, going through periods of being banned and repeatedly switching between restricted, semi-restricted, and unrestricted statuses. Ultimately, their rivalry ended when [Azure Dragon Anaconda] became an unusable banned card.

"If I successfully summon or flip summon, I add one [Summoning Magic] card from my deck to my hand."

Aleister Crowley was unaware that Hayato was plotting against him. Instead, he retrieved a card from his deck and added it to his hand. "The effect of [Summoning Magic] is that I can send the Fusion Material Monster determined by the Fusion Monster from my hand to the Graveyard and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from the Fusion Deck."

"However, as my most proficient magic, [Summoning Magic] has a special enhancement when used to summon [Summoned Beasts]. It can select fusion materials from my field and both players' graveyards, and banish them to perform a fusion summon."

"I will activate [Summoning Spell] to banish the DARK [Cursed Dragon - Cursed Dragon] from your Graveyard and myself from your field!"

Aleister placed the [Summoning Magic] card into the Duel Disk and raised his staff above his head. A huge magic circle was conjured out of thin air above him by magic power. Within the magic circle, a special six-pointed star, similar to but different from the [Orichalcos Barrier], shone!

"With my magical name 'Great Beast,' I infuse it with wildness, nature, and desire, and unleash the dark magic to summon a beast that wields rebellious power!"

"Fusion Summon! [Summoned Beast - Caligula]!"

In Hayato's graveyard, the power of the [Cursed Dragon - Cursed Dragon] was drained by the [Summoning Magic] circle. The circle's color abruptly changed to an ominous dark red, sweeping downwards towards Aleister Crowley himself, whose body underwent a sudden transformation—

Amidst the crimson lightning, Aleister's robes were instantly torn apart by his rapidly expanding muscles, revealing his powerful body that was gradually turning scarlet. The crimson energy poured directly into Aleister's body, causing a pair of winding ram horns to grow on the top of his head. The staff in his hand, named "Aivas," flew out automatically and pierced into his body from behind!

In just a few breaths, the hooded young mage who had just absorbed Hayato's dark magic power of the Cursed Dragon transformed into a tall, muscular demon with bat wings on his wrists, thorns on his back, a dragon tail trailing behind him, and ram horns on his head!

[Summoned Beast - Caligula] [4☆/Dark]

[Orc/Fusion/Effect]

[1000/1800]

Whether it's star rating, attributes, or attack and defense, the demonic beast before them, [Summoned Beast - Caligula], is identical to [Summoner - Aleister] himself. Even without witnessing the entire transformation process like Hayato, one can still guess the relationship between the two. Not to mention that [Summoner - Caligula] is even wearing Aleister Crowley's tattered clothes.

Hayato stared in bewilderment at the appearance of [Summoned Beast - Caligula]. In his memory, Aleister had indeed summoned the demon before him in the Card Story.

However, after that, Aleister himself went completely berserk and, using his magical name "Great Beast," fused all his summoned beasts together in one go, summoning his ultimate and strongest summoned beast, a god-like giant summoned beast named after the Greek mythological afterlife "Elysium"—[Summoned Beast-Elysium].

Aleister himself, during the rampage summoning, first merged with [Summoned Beast - Caligula], then transformed into [Summoned Beast - Light Body] and fell into a deep sleep. He was then taken away by his old acquaintance [Magic King - Endymion] and transformed into [Magic Academy - Lameson]. He himself became a battery-like existence deep within, being utilized by it.

What exactly is going on with Aleister in front of me? What time period is this? Why can he summon [Summoned Beast - Caligula] without going berserk?

Or is this the time for him to go berserk?

But just then, Hayato saw that the magic circle beneath the feet of [Summoned Beast - Caligula] suddenly reversed and returned to the location of the staff "Aivas" embedded in its back. The staff expanded and transformed into a passage, and a [Summoner - Aleister], identical to the previous one, actually crawled out from it!?

"Heh heh heh, how about that? You were scared by my cool [Summoning Magic], weren't you? You should know that this is almost exclusively my spell; no one else can use it." Aleister Crowley proudly put his hands on his hips, showing no sign of anything amiss, and even displayed a card. "Although I, as a summoner, was excluded along with the [Summoning Magic], I don't want to leave so easily."

"The second effect of [Summoning Magic] can only be used once per turn. Return [Summoning Magic] from the Graveyard to the Deck, and then add one [Summoner - Aleister] that was banished from the game to your hand. Therefore, Lord Crowley, revive!"

Aleister Crowley looked full of energy, and Hayato temporarily put aside his doubts. After all, if he really wanted to know, he could wait until after winning the duel to ask him: "Excellent recycling system. Next turn, you can Normal Summon yourself again and then search for [Summoning Magic], right?"

"Although your system's cycle is excellent, don't forget that the [Summoned Beast - Caligula] you just fused and summoned was just a weak monster with 1000 attack power and 1800 defense power. It couldn't possibly withstand the attack of my [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia]."

"Hmph, that's not necessarily true." Aleister chuckled, glancing at the three cards in his hand. He couldn't use [Summoner - Aleister], which was himself, since he had already been Normal Summoned this turn. Of the other two cards, one was a Trap Card that needed to be set face-down, but the other was a Spell Card that could be used to defeat [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia].

"I will use the Spell Card [Force] to target [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] on your field and [Summoned Beast - Caligula] on my field to activate its effect."

"Reduce the attack power of [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] by half, which is 1300 points. Then, add the reduced attack power value to my [Summoned Beast - Caligula] to increase its attack power!"

Aleister said smugly, "Now, in terms of attack power, I am stronger. Let's enter the battle phase!"

"[Summoned Beast - Caligula] Attack [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia]!"

"Rebellious Claws!"

Chapter 539 God said, "It is forbidden."

【Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia】【ATK2600→1300】

[Summoned Beast - Caligula] [ATK 1000 → 2300]

With the support of its opponent's power, the previously disadvantaged [Summoned Beast - Caligula] turned the tables and, under Aleister's command, charged towards the weakened [Gaia], raising its claws to strike!

"Well!"

[Hayato: 4000→3000LP]

Losing a quarter of his life points in one go is not a minor injury, even for Hayato, who has played the Dark Game more than once. As [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] was destroyed, Hayato was also knocked back half a step by the impact.

"Although [Magical General Store] is in attack position and has not attacked, unfortunately, one of the effects of my [Summoned Beast - Caligula] is that both duelists can only use one monster to attack during their respective Battle Phases."

Aleister Crowley looked regretful. "So, I place one card face down on the field, then change the [Magical General Store] which hasn't fought this turn to Defense Position, and end my turn."

[Aleister: 3500LP, 1 card in hand]

[Summoned Beast - Caligula] [ATK 2300 → 1000]

[Magical General Store Merchant] (Broken Bamboo Light) [ATK200→DEF700]

【GaiKa】

Although the effect of [Force] only lasted for one turn, after the effect ended, the attack power of [Summoned Beast - Caligula] on Aleister's field returned to only 1000 points, which was not even enough to break through the defense of a weak monster like [Disruption Yellow].

However, because he had identified Aleister, even though Aleister himself had not told him the full effects of himself in his hand—[Summoner-Aleister]—Hayato knew that he also had the ability to discard himself from his hand and increase the attack and defense of a Fusion Monster on the field by 1000 points, and this effect could be activated during the opponent's turn.

In other words, although [Summoned Beast - Caligula] only has an attack power of 1000 points, which seems like any low-level monster with decent attack power could defeat it, its attack power can actually be increased to an excellent 2000 points for a low-level monster at any time. Ordinary monsters simply cannot break through it and will instead be defeated.

Moreover, Aleister's backline also has a player they must be wary of, Gaika.

"My turn, draw a card." Hayato drew a card from his deck. He was lucky enough to get a two-for-one trade with the [Pot of Greed]. "I activate the effect of the Spell Card [Pot of Greed], and draw two cards from my deck."

Just as Hayato was about to draw two cards from his deck, Aleister revealed his face-down card: "At this moment, I'm going to activate my face-down card to counter the trap [Divine Judgment]!"

As Aleister activated his card, a white-bearded old man appeared in his back row with his outstretched hand, grabbing Hayato's [Pot of Greed] with a gloomy expression as if to say, "You mustn't do that."

“By paying half of my Life Points, I can negate and destroy the activation of Spell/Trap Cards, as well as the Normal Summons, Flip Summons, and Special Summons of monsters by both players.” Aleister generously paid a large amount of Life Points in one go, and said smugly to Hayato, “I finally managed to dominate you.”

"Trying to use that [Pot of Greed] to draw cards and turn the tide? Absolutely not!"

[Aleister: 3500→1750LP]

As Aleister's base score plummeted to less than 2000 points, the white-bearded old man with the [God's Declaration] squeezed his hand hard, crushing the grinning [Pot of Greed] into powder, not even worthy of being called a fragment of [Pot of Greed].

Hayato thus lost his only card, causing him to frown and sense something was wrong.

I currently only have one [Spiral Shot] card on the field, which can only be used when attacking, and one face-down card with no other purpose. Apart from that, I have no monsters in the front row or resources in my hand, so I can't play anything. Not to mention removing Aleister's monsters on the field, I might even have to take a direct attack next turn.

That's absolutely terrible.

With a helpless expression, Hayato said, "Then, I'll end my turn."

[Hayato: 3000LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Spiral Shot Kill] [Gaikka]

"Huh? You've ended your turn just like that? Have you given up on this pointless resistance?" Aleister pushed up his glasses and said with a smile, "Not even a single monster. You've really given me the best opportunity. I can't help but imagine how much my magic can improve after I get your body tissue."

"My turn, draw a card."

Glancing at the card he'd drawn, a Quick-Play Spell Card, Aleister felt even more certain that victory was within his grasp; all he needed was—

"I usually summon myself, then activate the effect of [Summoner - Aleister] to search for [Summoning Magic] from the deck, add it to my hand, and activate it."

He walked to the front field, and Aleister's staff "Eivas" slammed on the ground, creating a summoning circle that had appeared once before, and once again connecting himself to the monster in Hayato's graveyard.

Although the process is the same, the difference from the previous round is that there is an extra monster in Hayato's graveyard this time, namely Gaia, the Sky Dragon Knight, which was destroyed in battle by [Summon-Caligula] in the previous round.

"I choose myself on the field and the Fusion Monster [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] from my opponent's Graveyard as Fusion Material, and remove them from the game." Feeling the powerful magical energy covering him, Aleister's lips curled into a slightly ferocious smile. "A higher level of summoning magic will be revealed here!"

"The entangled self and soul unite at this moment; in the name of the planet, I will become a body of light!"

"Fusion Summoning, [Summoned Beast - Light Body]!"