Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Having made his declaration, Keith slammed the card onto the Duel Disk, looking directly into Hayato's eyes: "Don't treat me like some pushover you can bully, Hayato Kobayashi. A mere [Hellfire] is nothing, I'll show you how to retaliate right now!"

"Come forth, [Desperate Revolver Dragon]!"

Chapter 569 Admiller: I died, and I'm alive again! Hit me, you idiot!

At the location where the [BM-4 Bomb Spider] was destroyed on the field, a mechanical dragon head that was extremely similar to the revolver barrel of the previously liberated [Revolver Dragon] emerged from the ground, followed by its arms, which were also in the shape of gun barrels.

A metal body covered in rivets stood tall on Keith's field. As soon as [Desperate Revolver Dragon] appeared, it immediately locked its barrel onto [Hellfire Machine Admirer] and [Hellfire Machine Baal] on Hayato's field!

[Desperate Revolver Dragon] [8☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[2800/2200]

“Once per turn, during the Battle Phase, I can activate the effect of [Desperate Revolver Dragon], flip a coin three times, and then destroy up to the number of face-up monsters on the field that have landed heads!” Keith pointed at Hayato, “Let the coins decide our fate, Hayato Kobayashi!”

A coin appeared on each of the three barrels of the [Desperate Revolver Dragon], was tossed into the air, spun and tumbled, and when it landed on the ground, it revealed two skulls and a [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] pattern, resulting in one heads and two tails.

Keith wasn't too disappointed that he didn't get the best result; getting a head was enough for him.

"Since the number of frontal attacks is one, destroying [Hellfire Machine - Baal] which has already attacked is pointless, so I will choose to destroy [Hellfire Machine - Admirer] which you haven't attacked yet!"

The deadly bullet fired from the barrel of "Desperate Revolver Dragon" towards Hayato's "Hellfire Admiral," which hadn't yet made an attack. Although "Hellfire Admiral" possessed immense power, it was ultimately bound by the rules of Duel Monsters. Lacking resistance to effect destruction, if it were hit by this bullet, the only possible outcome would be—

"Clang!"

Under Keith's watchful gaze, the bullets from the [Desperate Revolver Dragon] landed on the [Hellfire Machine Admirer], but they couldn't even scratch the paint off its body; they were easily deflected.

However, at the same time as deflecting the fatal bullet, a dark green light tube on [Hellfire Yadmiller]'s body suddenly shattered.

Hayato then took a card from the graveyard and explained, "The effect of 'Dead Apostle of Purgatory,' which I sent to the graveyard last turn with 'Power Wall,' can be used to banish this 'Dead Apostle of Purgatory' from the graveyard instead of destroying my 'Inferno Machine' monster by card effect."

He looked at Keith with a sneer, "In the end, isn't it still the same old routine, Keith? Do you think I'm as stuck in the past as you?"

"Tch, so they actually have a way to prevent effect destruction..." Keith frowned and glanced at the two monsters on his field.

The attack power of [Rewind Pistol Dragon] is 2300 points, while the attack power of [Desperate Revolver Dragon] is 2800 points, which is the same as [Hellfire Machine - Admirer]. Even if Hayato continues to attack with monsters, he can only destroy [Rewind Pistol Dragon] and cause him 500 points of damage. With his current base score of 2800 points, he can withstand it.

Hayato currently has 700 points remaining in his base score, and with his [Cannon Fire] ability on the field, he has a chance to win.

"Because of the coin toss effect, I will use the power of [Gunfire] to deal you 500 damage."

Keith used the [Gunfire] effect once per turn, and a phantom bullet instantly pierced through Hayato's body, taking away 500 of his base points.

[Hayato: 700→200LP]

"Hmph, so in this way, your base score will only be a meager 200 points, like a candle flickering in the wind, Kobayashi Hayato."

Hearing Keith's words, Hayato scoffed, "Fool, Life Points are the cheapest thing in a duel. As long as your Life Points haven't reached zero, they're infinite."

"My battle phase continues. Use [Hellfire - Admiral] to attack your [Reloaded Pistol Dragon] on the field!"

"Purgatory Unparalleled Wave Cannon!"

The peacock's demonic sky-blue wings spread out, and its tail feathers unfurled, revealing not the beautiful patterns that peacock tail feathers should have, but a giant fan made of flames.

With a flick of its tail, [Hellfire Machine - Admiral]'s attack instantly struck [Bow-Out Pistol Dragon] on Keith's field, destroying the monster and, as if in retaliation, inflicting 500 damage on Keith as well.

"Ugh!" After losing another basic point, Keith still couldn't maintain Hayato's expressionless or even somewhat enjoyable demeanor, and let out a muffled groan of discomfort.

[Keys: 2800 → 2300 LP]

"Activate the effect of [Inferno Yadmüller] when it destroys an opponent's monster in battle, allowing it to launch another consecutive attack." Hayato coldly commanded his Peacock Demon, which had just achieved a victory on his field. "This is a necessary sacrifice. Attack [Desperate Revolver Dragon], [Yadmüller]!"

"Purgatory Unparalleled Explosive Wave Cannon!"

"Don't think that adding the word 'explosive heat' makes this attack more powerful!" Keith said unhappily. "Using two monsters with the same attack power to fight, are you trying to take them both down with you!?"

Hayato didn't answer Keith, but just smiled coldly and extended his finger, while the [Hellfire Machine Admirer], which had just finished its attack, started moving again.

Seeing this, Keith snorted coldly: "Tch, in that case, we can't lose in terms of momentum. Counterattack! [Desperate Revolver Dragon]!"

The peacock demon's tail feathers, wreathed in flames, swept across the mechanical dragon's metal body. At the same time, a bullet from the mechanical dragon's gun barrel struck the light tube on the giant demon's body at point-blank range. Both monsters were hit in their respective vital points, fought to a standstill, and were sent to the graveyard.

For [Hellfire Yadmiller], or rather for all [Hellfire] monsters, entering the graveyard is like going home, no problem at all. And the word "desperate" on Keith's [Desperate Revolver Dragon] is not just for show.

Compared to the [Revolver Dragon], it is more portable and powerful in terms of both entry conditions and effects while on the field. Even if it is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, its effects can still be activated.

"If [Desperate Revolver Dragon] is destroyed, I add one Level 7 or lower monster with the effect of flipping a coin from my Deck to my hand. I choose Level 4 [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon]."

Keith added the retrieved cards to his hand, thinking to himself:

"【Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon】is a monster whose effect triggers a coin toss upon normal summoning, allowing it to toss two coins. With the effect of 【Second Chance】, I have a total of four chances to toss the coins."

'If I land heads even once out of these four chances, I can use the [Cannon Fire] effect to take away Kobayashi Hayato's last 200 life points. This tactic has a failure rate of only 6.25%, I'm practically guaranteed to win!'

Seeing Keith's smug expression, Hayato, having finished his battle phase, said, "At the end of the battle phase after [Hellfire Machine - Baal] attacks, I will activate its effect and banish one card from the field."

"What I'm excluding is that [Cannonball] card you have on your field, Keith!"

"What?!"

Keith hadn't expected that Hayato would immediately put his tactic into action, thwarting his plans. The lightning on the spear of [Hellfire Machine - Baal] struck the cover card in Keith's backfield, instantly erasing the Continuous Trap [Gunfire].

While [Hellfire Machine - Baal] was active, Hayato was also busy, taking a card from the graveyard: "During my Main Phase 2, since the total Level of the Effect Monsters on my field is 7☆, which is below 8☆, I activate the effect of [Hellfire Machine - Admiral] in the graveyard."

"Exclude two [Inferno] monsters from my hand, then Special Summon them from my Graveyard and revive them, [Admiral]!"

With Hayato banishing two cards from his hand, Keith finally understood why Hayato had previously planned to take down both [Inferno Yadmiller] and his [Desperate Revolver Dragon].

It turns out that his "Hellfire" monster doesn't have a one-turn limit for its special effect; it can regenerate infinitely as long as there are enough graveyard resources. Even though his "Desperate Revolver Dragon" can search for cards when sent to the graveyard, it's still a huge loss compared to "Hellfire" which can revive directly.

The orange light shone again, but it was quickly corrupted into a dark green light by the Field Spell Card [Dark World - Shadow Utopia-], and the Demon God reappeared on Hayato's field.

[Hellfire Machine - Admirer] [ATK2800]

But that wasn't all. Having just revived [Admirer], Hayato seemed to have come up with some wicked idea, and said with a cold laugh, "When any Duel Monster is sent to the graveyard, it usually means the end of their life. When attacked, they will feel pain, fear, or expose their weaknesses."

"However, for the immortal demons [Hellfire Machines], who have no sense of pain, it doesn't matter if they are like a fear that haunts their hearts and are resurrected from the grave again and again."

Upon hearing Hayato's words, [Hellfire Machine Admirer]'s mechanical face showed a human-like look of confusion as it turned to look at [Hellfire Machine Baal] beside it.

Did you tell him that we don't feel pain?

I can't get it?

For some reason, listening to Hayato's monologue, [Hellfire Machine Admirer] suddenly had a strange feeling, as if some kind of destined event was about to happen to him.

When Keith heard Hayato's words, he raised an eyebrow: "What are you trying to do with all this talk?"

"Hmph, there's only one answer, Keith. It's that I'm going to activate the effect of [Inferno - Admiral], which allows me to Tribute one monster on my field and banish one card from your Graveyard once per turn!"

"Your [Desperate Revolver Dragon] is far too powerful. To prevent you from reviving it with cards like [Monster Resurrection], I'm going to release [Inferno Yadmiller] itself and then banish [Desperate Revolver Dragon] from your graveyard!"

Hayato said smugly, completely ignoring the fact that the lights on [Hellfire Machine - Admirer] flickered violently after hearing his words.

However, Hayato had already given a clear order, and [Hellfire Machine - Admiral] was completely unable to resist, its body radiating intense light!

"Let us sacrifice ourselves for the greater good!"

With Hayato's "grief" wave of his arm, [Hellfire Machine Admirer], who had just been resurrected less than a minute ago, was sent back to the graveyard. At the same time, [Desperate Revolver Dragon] in Keith's graveyard was also excluded, losing the possibility of being [resurrected from the dead].

Keith, his face grim, frowned as he looked at the two cards in his hand: "Cry of the Living Dead" and "Resurrection of the Dead."

He was also thinking that even if he couldn't win the next round by using the [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] in combination with [Cannon Fire] and [Second Chance] to directly reduce the opponent's health, he could still revive or retrieve the [Desperate Revolver Dragon] to launch another attack. However, the situation of being excluded was not considered in Keith's regular tactics.

Furthermore, Hayato's "Hellfire Machine" monster, when combined with a Field Spell Card, has the annoying ability to banish Keith's monsters and Keith's graveyard cards during Keith's turn. I can't beat that, how can I win?

What made Keith's face darken even more was that Hayato once again banished two cards from his hand, and [Inferno Machine Admirer] once again jumped back and forth between the graveyard and the field, appearing on the field.

"Cover two cards, my turn is over."

[Hayato: 200LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Hellfire Machine - Baal】【ATK2600】

[Hellfire Machine - Admirer] [ATK2800]

[GaiK] X2

Location: [Dark World - Shadow Utopia-]

Looking at Hayato's lineup on the field, Keith checked his own hand again, but couldn't find any way to break the deadlock.

【Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon】When Normal Summoned, you can choose one card and flip two coins. If both result is heads, you can destroy one card directly. However, you can only destroy one of the two 【Inferno Machines】on Hayato's field.

Even if one is destroyed, the destroyed [Hellfire Machine] can immediately chain its own effect to release [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] and destroy it as well. Leaving only an empty field without any monsters.

【Cry of the Living Dead】can revive monsters in the graveyard, but the strongest monster in Keith's graveyard right now is only 【Bow-Out Pistol Dragon】, which is no match for either 【Hellfire Machine Baal】 or 【Hellfire Machine Admirer】.

Moreover, Keith wouldn't mind speculating about Hayato with the utmost malice. Given his past performance, there's a possibility that he might activate [Call of the Dead], only for Hayato to chain-activate the [Hellfire] monster's effect, banishing the revived monster and rendering [Call of the Dead] completely ineffective—a truly disgusting situation.

Various tactics flashed through Keith's mind. Although he could not see any hope of victory, Keith felt a surge of excitement for no reason. He looked down at the Duel Disk in his left hand.

Chapter 570 The Death of Keith

Keith wasn't looking at the cards in the deck, but rather at several cards hidden on his left wrist. Among them were cards that, when used normally, relied heavily on luck, but when used cheating, could almost guarantee victory.

"My turn..." As Keith placed his index finger on top of the deck, his thumb unconsciously rested on his wristband. With his hand speed, he could easily use a feint to subtly replace the hidden card with the card at the top of the deck, achieving a stealthy substitution effect.

It's very simple, isn't it? With just a slight movement of my finger, I don't have to worry about winning. Even if it's Kobayashi Hayato, I can defeat him as long as I'm willing to abandon my duelist's pride.

But somehow, Keith only realized after he had already completed the card-drawing action and taken a card from the top of the deck that he had naturally chosen to draw a card from the top of the deck, subconsciously resisting cheating.

"Draw a card!"

Despite having subconsciously done something irrational, Keith laughed and said excitedly.

For the first time in a long time, he found the joy of battle in duels, not by cheating to win, but by entrusting his fate to the deck for the sake of the process.

Before becoming the U.S. champion, Keith was a gambler who fought his way to the top with the coin toss, relying on the decks he believed in and the unpredictable outcome. However, after becoming the champion, he could no longer gamble everything on the coin toss and began to obsess over gains and losses.

The "Second Chance" card on Keith's field was one he added to his deck out of fear of failure.

'Come to think of it, now that I'm stuck in the mud, can't I say that I've been given a second chance to challenge the peak?' Keith suddenly felt a sense of relief, flipped the card in his hand to check, and revealed a magic card.

He looked at Hayato: "Thanks to you, Kobayashi Hayato, I suddenly know what I need to do next. You're right in some ways. I brought this situation on myself, so after I defeat you, I'll go back to compete and slowly climb back to where I was."

"Before that, I'm going to use this card to defeat you!" Keith said, playing a card. "I'm activating my magic card, [One-Hit Kill! Iai Draw]!"

Like a swordsman drawing his divine sword from its sheath, Keith places the cards from his hand into the Duel Disk. Then, Keith discards a card from his hand: "The effect of 【One-Hit Kill! Iai Draw】 requires me to discard a card to activate. Send the number of cards on my opponent's field from the top of my deck to the Graveyard, and then I draw a card from my deck and show it to both of us."

"Since you have a total of five cards on your field, I will send five cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, and then I will draw one card." After sending the five cards to the graveyard, Keith's finger rested on the Duel Disk again.