Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

As Jonouchi spoke, he prepared to send two monsters from his deck to the graveyard: "The Fusion Materials I'm sending to the graveyard are [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] and [Meteor Dragon]. The Fusion Materials are a 7-star [Red-Eyes] monster and a 6-star Dragon monster. I Fusion Summon—"

"Before that, I discard this card from my hand."

Hayato's voice interrupted Jonouchi before he could even call out the name of the Fusion Monster. Before Jonouchi's activated Red-Eyes Fusion, Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon were ready to enter. But just then, as Hayato sent a card from his hand to the Graveyard, a grinning little girl suddenly blocked Jonouchi's path, preventing him from sending the two cards!

Despite being a cute little girl dressed in a kimono and appearing alongside cherry blossoms, Jonouchi felt his fists grow harder the more he looked at the monster.

Hayato said smugly, "When my opponent activates any of the following effects: 'adding a card from the deck to the hand,' 'special summoning a monster from the deck,' or 'sending a card from the deck to the graveyard,' I can discard 'Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring' from my hand to negate that effect. This effect can also be activated during my opponent's turn."

"I wonder if the [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] that got taken will dream about Urara tonight?" Hayato mocked with a malicious look.

Chapter 582 Your Monster is Crying... It's Disruptive Yellow, oh well, that's alright then.

In the effect processing of 【Red-Eyes Fusion】, "sending monsters to the graveyard" and "Fusion Summoning" are processed in the same effect. You need to send the fusion materials to the graveyard first and then use those monsters to perform the fusion.

However, Hayato's use of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring forcibly interrupted Jonouchi's process of sending the monster to the graveyard, making it impossible to continue the subsequent steps.

Not only that, Jonouchi also has to reap what he sows and bear the consequences of the "Red-Eyes Fusion" card's ability to fuse with the deck, namely, he can no longer summon or special summon monsters. It is quite fatal that he has to suffer such a price when the duel has just begun.

"Tch, it's not that easy to wake you up, Hayato." Jonouchi glanced at the cards in his hand, then drew another one. "In that case, I'll activate the Spell Card 'Ruby Treasure Card' to send a Level 7 'Red-Eyes' monster from my hand—that is, this 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon'—to the Graveyard, and draw two cards from my Deck."

After changing his hand, Jonouchi looked at the monster card in his hand and drew it. Although he couldn't Normal or Special Summon it, he could still Summon monsters face down.

"Next, I summon a monster in defense position and set two cards face down. My turn ends."

[Within the city: 8000LP, 6 cards in hand → 2]

[The monster inside]

[GaiK] X2

"My turn, draw a card."

After Jonouchi's turn ended, it was Hayato's turn. He drew a card from his deck, looked at the monster card in his hand, and summoned it directly onto the field: "Normal Summon this card from my hand in Attack Position!"

The card landed on Hayato's duel disk, and a familiar monster appeared in front of Hayato.

【Disruption·Yellow】【ATK0】

"Cry for my power, hee hee~"

"They actually summoned the [Disruption Yellow] attack position with 0 attack power?" Jonouchi said, puzzled. "Is he going to use that monster to launch a suicide attack?"

"Don't forget that 'Disruption' monsters also have powerful field spell cards that work in conjunction with them, Jonouchi. Don't be careless." Yugi, who remembered the existence of 'Disruption Village,' reminded Jonouchi, which reminded him that there was indeed such a card with the effect of changing attack and defense.

"So ☆Da ☆Yo, it's been a long time since I've appeared in Annie's Duel deck, and I'm going to fight with all my might~" Standing alone on the field, [Disruptor Yellow] stood with his hands on his hips, looking incredibly brave. "Annie's Tamashii isn't just any other card, it's me, [Yellow]!"

"Come on, Annie, use your super powerful enhancement card on me!"

"Hey, it's rare to see you being so proactive." Hayato gave [Disruption Yellow] a strange look and pulled out a card.

Upon hearing this, Jonouchi couldn't help but become a little wary, watching Hayato insert a card from his hand into the Spell & Trap Zone of the Duel Disk to activate it.

Behind [Disruption Yellow], a magic card appeared, forming a circular halo from beneath [Disruption Yellow]'s feet. A powerful force capable of distorting space emanated from around [Disruption Yellow]!

"Oh, oh, oh, power is surging up—wait? No power is surging up at all?" Despite being surrounded by a powerful force, [Disruption Yellow] didn't feel anything special, and its attack and defense power didn't change at all. This made it turn around curiously to check what card Hayato had activated.

Turning around, [Disruption Yellow] read out the name of the card behind him: "[Monster Gate]? Hmm, its effect is 'Until a monster that can be Normal Summoned appears, flip the top card of your Deck, Special Summon that monster. Send all other flipped cards to the Graveyard.' And the cost of activating it is 'You can activate this by Tributing 1 monster you control'?"

"Oh, I see. It's a card that requires you to Tribute one monster on your field to activate." With a look of sudden realization, [Disruption Yellow] tapped its own hand, only to find its body dissipating. Belatedly, it realized, "What the hell! Tributeing a monster on the field... well, that only applies to me!?"

"Ah, Anigee?!"

Looking at Hayato with pleading eyes, [Disruption Yellow] only received a cold nod from Hayato: "Hmm, that's how it is. This is the price that must be paid to gain great power. Make the necessary sacrifices for the final victory, [Disruption Yellow]!"

"Liberate the [Disruptive Yellow] on my field!"

"Ani Gei!!!"

Amidst Hayato's sorrowful smile, [Disruption Yellow] vanished completely and was sent to the graveyard, while the [Monster Gate] beneath its feet finally began to take effect with the supply of offerings.

To ruthlessly send one's own deeply emotional monster to the graveyard in order to activate the card's effect, no matter what kind of duelist does it, should give people the feeling of "this guy actually fell so low for power" or "your monster is crying".

But as Hayato unleashed [Disruption Yellow] without any surprise, Jonouchi and Yugi couldn't help but exclaim in unison, "Ah, that's something Hayato would do."

"They say they joined Dorma for power, but it's still the same dueling style as before."

Amidst their banter, the power of [Monster Gate] flipped over the cards at the top of Hayato's deck one after another. However, to their surprise, despite the fact that several monster cards appeared among the flipped cards, which were predominantly red trap cards and a considerable number of spell cards, the effect of [Monster Gate] did not stop.

"Although I didn't recognize several of the monster cards, the Monster Gate should Special Summon a monster that can be Normal Summoned, so why weren't the monsters Hayato flipped up Special Summoned? Is there something wrong with the Duel Disk?"

Even Jonouchi's puzzle game couldn't answer it, but he had a guess: "No, the Duel Disk shouldn't be wrong. That kind of situation is actually possible because there are quite a few Duel Monsters that have special summoning conditions for Special Summoning and cannot be Normal Summoned."

"That's right. This is the monster I awakened after joining Doma, driven by the dark side of my inner thirst for power: the Hellfire Machine. They possess power beyond that of ordinary monsters, and the usual methods of summoning are insufficient to meet the conditions for their descent."

After flipping over a dozen cards and sending about a third of his deck to the graveyard, Hayato finally found a monster he could Normal Summon and summoned it to the field. It was a small mechanical vehicle, the [Plane Explorer].

【Planet Exploration Vehicle】【4☆/Land】

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[1000/1000]

"The [Hellfire Machine] that cannot be Normal Summoned? But even if it's a powerful monster, it's useless once it's sent to the Graveyard. Besides, the monster you control has only changed from the 0-ATK [Disruptor Yellow] to the 1000-ATK [Planet Exploration Vehicle]."

Jonouchi did remember the effect of [Planet Exploration Vehicle], which allowed him to add a Field Spell Card to his hand after actively releasing himself from the deck, but he didn't think Hayato would release it and use its effect now.

After all, Hayato had already used his Normal Summon opportunity to summon [Disruptor Yellow] this turn. If he were to release [Planet Exploration Vehicle], wouldn't he have no monsters on the field?

But just as Jonouchi was thinking this, Hayato actually activated the effect of the monster on the field.

"Activate the effect of [Planet Exploration Vehicle], Tribute this card, and add one Field Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. I chose [Dark World - Shadow Utopia]."

The mechanical vehicle used to explore the surface of alien land extended its external mechanical arm, and a laser beam engraved a card on the ground. After the card was engraved and added to Hayato's hand, it stopped operating due to energy depletion.

"You think that after I release the [Plane Explorer], there won't be any monsters left on the field? Hmph, then let me show you the ultimate power I've gained! Jonouchi, there's still Yugi!" Without activating the cards in his hand, Hayato pointed his finger into the air and shouted, "Let me reveal to you the conditions for Special Summoning the [Hellfire Machines]!"

"If the combined Level of the Effect Monsters on my field is 8 or lower, I banish two [Inferno] monsters from my Graveyard and Special Summon [Inferno Baal] from my Graveyard!"

"What?!" "A special summon from the graveyard?!"

Behind Hayato, the figures of two [Hellfire Machine] monsters that had been piled up in the graveyard appeared, then instantly shattered and disappeared. However, although their forms disappeared, the burning soul fire was still preserved, turning into blue flames that were confined within the lamp tube.

"Shatter, my soul's memories! Become a star now, a lightning bolt piercing through destiny!"

"【Hellfire Machine - Baal】, descending, ready to unleash its power!"

【Hellfire Machine - Baal】【7☆/Flame】

[Demon/Special Summon/Effect]

[2600/0]

The towering Thunder Demon God stands majestically on Hayato's field.

"A level 7 monster with an attack power of 2600, which is higher than [Dark Magician], was Special Summoned so easily!"

While the city was filled with amazement, Yugi couldn't help but frown and become serious, because he knew it was too early to be so sentimental.

He had heard it clearly just now: [Inferno Baal] was a Special Summon performed by banishing two [Inferno] monsters from the Graveyard when the combined Level of the Effect Monsters on Hayato's field was 8 or less. And the [Inferno Baal] that was summoned just now had a Level of 7.

Although the exact number of [Inferno] monsters sent to the Graveyard is not remembered, the game confirms that there are at least six of them, and at least one more [Inferno Baal]-level monster can be Special Summoned to the field.

As expected, after summoning [Inferno Baal], Hayato once again took out cards from the graveyard: "Right now I only have one Level 7 [Inferno Baal] on the field, which is not yet the power limit of [Inferno] monsters. This time I will banish three [Inferno] monsters from the graveyard!"

"Unsatisfied souls, emerge from the abyss beyond the reach of light, transform into dark serpents and shatter the light!"

"The Ninth Element, 'God's Contamination,' the Enemy of 'Principles'—[Hellfire Machine Lilith]!"

Different three-colored flames flickered and converged, rising into an ominous and evil purple, which was bound within the light tube and formed the shape of a giant winged serpent. The mechanical demon named after the original woman "Lilith" spread its wings and stood behind Hayato.

【Hellfire Machine - Lilith】【9☆/Flame】

[Demon/Special Summon/Effect]

[2900/2900]

In Hayato's [Inferno] deck, there are actually three tiers. The tier division is not based on the star level of ordinary Duel Monsters, but on the number of monsters that need to be banished when each [Inferno] is Special Summoned.

Aside from the unique and only one that can be Normal Summoned, "Inferno Decimal," all other monsters, from Level 1 "Inferno Satan," Level 2 "Inferno Beelzebub," Level 3 "Inferno Lucifer," to Level 4 "Inferno Astaroth," require banishing one "Inferno" monster from your hand or Graveyard to be Special Summoned from your hand. They are considered "lower-tier" monsters.

The number of cards required to banish from the "middle" tier—Level 5 [Inferno Asmodeus], ​​Level 6 [Inferno Belfinger], Level 7 [Inferno Baal], and Level 8 [Inferno Admirer]—has increased to two. However, in addition to being played from the hand, they can also be resurrected from the graveyard.

There are only two "High-Rank" [Inferno] monsters, and they can only be Special Summoned from the hand or Graveyard by banishing three [Inferno] monsters. In addition, the ability of other [Inferno] monsters to "Tribute a monster and banish a card from the opponent's Graveyard" has been upgraded to the ability to Tribute monsters to negate specific types of effects of the opponent.

The Level 9 [Hellfire Lilith] is the first "high-rank" [Hellfire] monster that Hayato has used so far. After all, few of his previous opponents could withstand the power of [Hellfire Baal], so there was no need to use a high-rank [Hellfire].

If the first appearance of [Hellfire Machine - Baal] only made Jonouchi marvel at its immense power, the appearance of [Hellfire Machine - Lilith] now gives Jonouchi a chill just by its existence. It's as if the being in front of him is no longer a Duel Monster, but some kind of enemy of humanity sealed in a card. That kind of physical disgust and fear is no joke.

Even if Jonouchi still didn't believe it, he had to start to believe the truth of Hayato's earlier words. Such a monster was beyond the capabilities of human cards; could it truly have been born from the darkness within Hayato's heart?

Could it be that Hayato is truly—, that such a monster could be born?

"Activate her effect when [Inferno Lilith] is Special Summoned, an effect that Jonouchi is quite familiar with." Hayato pointed to the two face-down cards on Jonouchi's back field, "Destroy all Spell/Trap Cards on both players' fields except for [Purgatory]!"

Chapter 583 It's more painful to not be allowed to make money than to lose money.

The "Purgatory" field belongs to the Spell & Trap Cards of the "Inferno Machine" deck. There are also some cards and monsters that support the "Infernal Fire" deck, but it is obvious that Jonouchi will not have such cards.

Since Hayato doesn't have any Spell/Trap Cards on his field, the effect of [Hellfire Lilith] is practically the same as [Harpie's Feather Duster] to him.

"It's a backrow destruction effect? ​​In that case, I'll chain the effect of [Inferno Lilith] and activate this face-down card in my backrow!"

As Jonouchi pressed the button to activate a face-down card, one of the two face-down cards on his back field that was about to be destroyed was revealed: "Trap Card [Feint Attack], neither player can attack face-down monsters!"

In a chain reaction, Hayato's giant serpent [Hellfire Machine Lilith] flapped its transparent white wings, creating a whirlwind that swept across the back row of the castle. However, before both cards were destroyed, [Feint] had already taken effect, leaving a binding effect on the field.

Neither side can attack the face-down monster, which means that Hayato cannot attack Jonouchi, who only has one face-down monster, if there is no monster on the field that can directly attack him.

The Gale sent the active [Feint] and another [Explosive Armor] to the graveyard together. Jonouchi smiled smugly, having outmaneuvered Hayato: "Although the first turn's development was interrupted, I won't hold the game back. At least I don't want to get hurt before his turn begins."

Hayato looked at Jonouchi, who had a smug expression, and gave a cold laugh.

"Hmph, is that so? [Feint] can indeed effectively hinder your opponent's attack when you only have one face-down monster on your field, but that's all you can do to survive. Let me show you the even greater power of [Hellfire] monsters."

"First, I'll activate this Field Spell Card, [Dark World - Shadow Utopia]!"

As Hayato spoke, he placed the Field Spell Card [Dark World - Shadow Utopia], which he had previously retrieved from his hand, into the Field area of ​​the Duel Disk.

In an instant, the scenery changed. The original ground was replaced with black soil, and dark green flames surged all around, transforming the modern environment into a claustrophobic and terrifying world.

The flames in the arena even invaded the bodies of Hayato's two [Hellfire Machines], turning the blue and purple lights into a dark green.

However, what puzzled Yugi and Jonouchi was that although this Field Spell Card clearly did something to Hayato's two monsters on the field, the two [Inferno] monsters only had their attributes changed; their attack and defense remained unchanged.