Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

The gunshot hit Hayato directly. Keith had expected Hayato to show a pained expression, but to his surprise, Hayato simply brushed the dust off the spot where he was hit and said nonchalantly, "Is this the kind of revenge you're talking about, an attack that doesn't even qualify as a caress?"

"What a waste of my $20,000 coat."

After verbally provoking Keith, Hayato finally had time to check what cards he had drawn, but perhaps because this was the first time he had used this deck, his starting affinity was a bit lacking.

In other words, he seems to have a bad run of cards; he hasn't drawn a single monster card, and all he has are red and green cards.

Hmm, what a perfect hand!

It's fair to say that Keith's "Death's Journey" card was a complete waste, because Hayato didn't have any monster cards in his hand, so even if he wanted to summon one, he couldn't. However, Hayato also failed to draw "Harpie's Feather Duster," which was almost at the best time to use it.

However, it's understandable that he couldn't draw it, because Hayato's deck this time was not the regular 40 cards but the maximum 60 cards, and his deck only had one [Harpie's Feather Duster], which he won from Mai Peacock during the Duel Kingdom.

Sometimes you can't even get one out of 40, let alone one out of 60.

Seeing that Hayato was checking his hand, Keith calmed down a bit, a smile playing on his lips, and pressed the button to activate the face-down card again: "Hayato Kobayashi, you have 6 cards in your hand right now, so in this case where you have 6 or more cards in your hand, and I have 2 or fewer cards in my hand, I'm going to activate this face-down card."

Keith flipped over his third face-down card in the back row, another trap card, the artwork of which depicted a hand about to toss a coin.

“Trap card, [Gambling], after activation, flips a coin, and I predict the result.” Keith, with his hands empty, crossed his arms and said confidently, “If I guess correctly, I can draw cards from my deck to replenish my hand to 5 cards at once, and if I guess wrong, I skip my next turn.”

"Haha, powerful cards often come with huge risks, huh? Keith, as always, you love using these gambling cards to try and get high returns."

"Hmph, as long as the outcome is good, then there are no side effects." Keith sneered and stretched out his hand to declare, "My prediction is, of course, positive!"

As Keith made his judgment, the coin was tossed into the air. However, perhaps the previous "Death's Parade" had used up some of Keith's luck, because this time, in the more crucial coin toss, the coin that rolled to the ground had the skull facing upwards.

The result was the reverse; Keith's guess was wrong.

"Tch, it doesn't matter. As long as we are well prepared, death won't come. The [Second Chance] card I activated earlier wasn't just for show."

Keith anticipated the current situation and decisively activated the effect of [Second Chance]: "Because of my Continuous Spell Card [Second Chance] on the field, I can flip a coin again this turn."

"The future changes here! The result is—"

The coin, which had already fallen to the ground, seemed to rewind time and returned to its tumbling state in the air before landing again. However, this time the result was different, and the image of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on top.

"---It's front!" Keith said triumphantly, his hand resting on the duel disk. "So, I can draw five cards in one go, empty-handed! Draw!"

[Gambling] If you guess wrong with this card, you will skip the user's next entire turn. It is extremely risky, but also has extremely high rewards. Keith, who had run out of cards in one turn, has now replenished his hand with a full five cards, and his resources are abundant again.

Hayato, on the other hand, couldn't do anything because he didn't have a single monster in his hand...

...or so?

"Well, well, I must say you've definitely improved since before, Keith." Hayato nodded approvingly as he watched Keith's movements. "Let me give you a little praise."

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card [Nightmare Mirage]. This card allows me to draw cards during your Standby Phase until I have four cards in my hand. Then, during my Standby Phase, I discard the number of cards I drew. After that, I set three cards face down, and my turn ends."

[Hayato: 3500LP, 2 cards in hand]

[Nightmare of the Mirage Tower] [Given Card] X3

According to Keith, because of the effect of his own "Death's Wanderer," the suspected monster card in Hayato's hand was successfully locked and could not be summoned, leaving him only able to set up defenses with face-down cards. There was nothing else he could do, and his turn simply ended.

"Ha, [Nightmare of the Mirage], huh? In that case, one of your three face-down cards must be [Extraordinary Food], right? That kind of outdated combo is so obsolete, Hayato Kobayashi!"

Keith pressed the button to activate the face-down card, revealing the last face-down card on his back row. "During your End Phase, I'm activating this card, the Trap Card [Great Sandstorm]!"

"Target [Nightmare Mirage] on your field, destroy that card, and then I can set one more Spell/Trap Card face-down from my hand!"

Hayato didn't draw a card that could destroy the back row, but Keith did set one face-down. The endless tornadoes moved towards Hayato's "Nightmare Mirage" in the back row, but it didn't have any effect. The card was destroyed by the storm and sent to the graveyard. At the same time, Keith also set one of the cards he had drawn earlier to the back row.

Keith and Hayato were dueling, while Baron, who was hiding and watching the two, frowned in surprise: "That 'thief' Keith, I remember the intelligence said that because he had suffered many setbacks, he was basically just a guy who made a living in the underground dueling arena?"

"Now it seems he actually has some strength, managing to suppress Kobayashi Hayato for a while."

Ameruda looked at Keith and said quietly, "This is the power of 'hatred,' Baron. When people vent their resentment, they can perform beyond their normal level and do things they couldn't normally do. It's not surprising."

“The power of a duelist’s heart can create miracles, but for that 'thief' Keith, that’s all it is.” Rafael reached into his robes and stroked the deck he kept close to his body. “The cards tell me the flow of the game has changed. That Kobayashi Hayato guy, it seems…”

"My turn!" Keith, unaware of Rafael and the others' assessment of the situation on the field, glanced at the card he had drawn and smiled smugly. "Hmph, I've drawn some pretty good cards."

"I activate the Spell Card, Fusion!"

Chapter 568 Do you dare to defy me, who possesses Baye's power?

"Activate the Spell Card, [Fusion]!"

Keith revealed the cards he had drawn this turn, and activated the spell card [Fusion], using the two cards in his hand that Keith had chosen as fusion materials.

Two monsters appeared on Keith's field. One was Keith's ace, "Revolver Dragon," and the other was "Bow-Out Pistol Dragon," which was also based on a weapon.

"Use the [Revolver Dragon] and [Bowgun Dragon] from my hand as fusion materials."

"Fusion Summon! [Machine Gun Dragon]!"

A massive machine appeared on Keith's field, its huge tires rolling across the ground, its spikes protruding and looking imposing. The main body above the moving parts had a three-pronged structure similar to the [Electronic Terminator Dragon], with a metal pipe extending from each of the three prongs. At the end, three mechanical dragon heads each carried a killing weapon, the cold barrels pointing directly at Hayato.

[Machine Gun Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2600/1200]

"Change my [BM-4 Bomb Spider] to Attack Position, then I enter the Battle Phase!"

【BM-4 Bomb Spider】【DEF2200→ATK1400】

Keith pointed at Hayato and sneered, "Now the combined attack power of the monsters on my field has reached 4000 points. You're finished, Hayato Kobayashi!"

"First, there's the direct attack from the BM-4 Bomb Spider, the BM-4 missile!"

As Keith issued the attack command, the two missile pod doors on the back of his [BM-4 Bomb Spider], which had switched to attack mode, opened, and countless bombs with grappling hooks were launched towards Hayato.

With not a single monster in the front row, Hayato had no cover and was directly hit by the attack of [BM-4 Bomb Spider]!

"boom!"

Seeing his monster attack hit, Keith couldn't help but smile.

In fact, he knew very well that although Hayato's situation was related to his current predicament, it was not the biggest reason. The main reason was that the repeated defeats in Duel Kingdom and Duel City had caused Keith to lose confidence in himself, which led him to indulge in self-destructive behavior.

He was first humiliated by Pegasus through "mind reading," and then instantly defeated by an elementary school student who had received guidance from Pegasus in a public competition.

Then, even when he cheated without any dignity or honor during Duel Kingdom, he still couldn't beat Hayato, who was not well-known at the time.

He was then tortured by dark games until he lost his body by the leader of the then still-existing international criminal organization, Gurus.

Finally, at the Egyptian Antiquities Exhibition in Domino City, he was forced out of control by Hayato Kobayashi's endless chain attack.

In these repeated defeats, even humiliating ones, Keith's absolute confidence in his abilities as a duelist was repeatedly crushed. But it was impossible for the proud Keith to admit that he had chosen this outcome, so he naturally shifted the blame onto Hayato.

What? Even if he makes a name for himself as the King of Duel, Hayato Kobayashi is still just that kid from back then. If he wanted to, I, Keith, could still easily suppress him, right?

Their pre-duel aura was so intimidating, but now it seems there's nothing to be afraid of at all.

Next, all we need to do is—

"Crack!" After being hit by the [BM-4 Bomb Spider], something suddenly broke out in the dust and smoke around Hayato, attracting Keith's attention.

It was only now that Keith belatedly realized something: Hayato's base stats hadn't changed at all after the [BM-4 Bomb Spider] attack!?

From beginning to end, he only saw the attack being detonated and thought the attack was successful!

“Trap Card, Counter Gate, negates your direct attack on me, and I draw a card from my deck.” Hayato, who was unharmed from Keith’s attack, looked at the broken dimensional wall in front of him, drew a card from his deck, and said with a smile, “Don’t think I haven’t set up any defenses just because I don’t have any monsters on my field.”

"Don't limit the Duel Monsters competition to monsters, Keith."

Hayato glanced at the card he had drawn and gave a helpless look: "If the card drawn by 'Counterattack Gate' is a monster, I can Normal Summon it in Attack Position. Although I did draw a monster, unfortunately, the monster card I drew is the type that cannot be Normal Summoned."

Hearing Hayato say that, Keith's expression softened slightly.

"In other words, you still don't have a monster that can act as a shield, so you've only blocked one direct attack." Keith glanced at Hayato's two face-down cards in the back row and thought for a moment.

Based on Hayato's earlier activation of [Nightmare Mirage], it can be inferred that one of the three cards he initially set down must have been [Extraordinary Food], which could actively send [Nightmare Mirage] to the graveyard to avoid its negative effects. Then, he just activated [Counterattack Gate].

There's one more card left, but we don't know what it will be. We can't find the answer just by thinking about it, so let's attack first.

"Using the Counterattack Gate to defend against the BM-4 Bomb Spider's attack was a mistake, Hayato Kobayashi. Now let's see how you're going to block the Machine Gun Dragon's attack!" Keith pointed at Hayato. "Take this 2600 damage, Machine Gun Dragon's direct attack!"

"Bullet Storm!"

The three heads of the [Machine Gun Dragon] were aimed at Hayato and locked onto the target. The metal barrels began to rotate and preheat. The moment it received the attack command from Keith, countless bullets rained down from the three-barreled machine gun and attacked Hayato!

"Weak, weak! This level of attack isn't even a massage, Keith. I'll chain-activate Geika [Piercing Trap Hole]!"

"You can activate this effect when an opponent's monster, which you Summon or Special Summon this turn, declares an attack. Destroy that attacking monster and inflict damage to your opponent equal to half of that monster's original ATK." Hayato pointed to [Machine Dragon] on Keith's field. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter to you if your monsters get destroyed, right?"

"You'll reap what you sow! I'm going to destroy your [Machine Gun Dragon], and then you'll take damage equal to half of its attack power!"

As Hayato opens his face-down card, a large crater appears under the feet of the Machine Gun Dragon that Keith had Special Summoned this turn with Fusion. The crater is filled with dense spikes. Once the Machine Gun Dragon falls into it, it will be destroyed as it has no resistance to destruction. Keith will then take half of the Machine Gun Dragon's attack power, which is 1300 points of damage!

This is much more damaging than the 500 points that Keith dealt to Hayato with [Gunfire] just now!

Seeing his [Machine Gun Dragon] about to fall into the crater and be destroyed because it lost its footing and leaned back, unable to continue aiming at Hayato, Keith, who was quite sensitive, subconsciously clenched his fist because of what Hayato had just said.

Reap what you sow?

What does Hayato Kobayashi mean? Is he trying to say that my current predicament is entirely my own fault?

That kind of thing, that kind of thing...

"I won't let you get away with that!" Keith activated a face-down card in his back row, a Quick-Play Spell Card he had set with [Great Sandstorm] during Hayato's end phase last turn, which was now ready to be activated. "I'll chain your [Piercing Trap Hole] and activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Fusion Deactivation]!"

"Release the Fusion of [Machine Dragon] on my field, and Special Summon two monsters from my Graveyard that were used as its Fusion Material!"

Before [Machine Dragon] could be pierced by the spikes, the power of [Fuse Release] caught up with [Machine Dragon], causing it to instantly disintegrate into two beams of light that flew out of the pitfall and returned to Keith's field.

Because the target of the attack disappeared, the Piercing Trap Hole effect was not processed, and Keith was not damaged.

Looking at the two monsters that appeared on his field, Keith took a deep breath and looked at Hayato, saying, "I've said it before, don't underestimate me. I am Keith Howard, don't treat me like some weakling you can find anywhere."

"Special Summon [Bow-Out Pistol Dragon] in Attack Position, and my ace, [Revolver Dragon]!"

The [Bow Pistol Dragon], whose head is shaped like a Desert Eagle pistol, and the [Revolver Dragon], whose head and arms are composed of three revolvers, both appeared from the light and stood on Keith's field!

[Reloaded Pistol Dragon] [6☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[2300/1200]

[Revolver Dragon] [7☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]