Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Making a gesture like pouring liquid from a cup, Hayato put down the card in his hand, and a pool of silvery, wriggling liquid appeared on his field.

【Metallic Parasite - Moon Garment】【7☆/Water】

[Aquatic/Alliance/Effect]

【1000/500→500/1000】

"The effect of [Metalized Parasite - Moon Garment] is that once per turn during my Main Phase, this card on the field can be used as an Equip Card to equip a face-up monster on my field to [D-hero Blood Demon-D].

Hayato paused, then added, "Because of this effect, the [D-hero Blood Demon-D] equipped with [Metallic Parasite - Moon Robe] will not be affected by the effects of the spell cards you control, Dartz."

"I see, so you want to protect that monster called [Blood Demon-D]?" Dartz narrowed his eyes. "What kind of effect does that monster have...?"

The card 【Blood Demon-D】 was designed by a designer from the card design department of the International Illusion Society—who was also the father of the deceased Ed Phoenix. According to the regulations of the International Illusion Society, the card should have been entered into the data for record-keeping after completion.

However, as soon as the [Blood Demon-D] card was completed, DD murdered Edward's father and stole the card. Naturally, DD, who had committed murder, would not walk into a trap to input the card's data, but instead kept it to himself and made a fortune in silence.

Until the previous KC Cup, that arrogant guy, because Hayato humiliated him in a duel, chose to sneak up at night to take revenge. As a result, he was killed by Hayato with [Earthbound God - Veracrucha Raska], which gave Hayato an OCG version of [Blood Demon - D], while the original version returned to Edward's hands.

Because it was his father's keepsake, Ed treasured the [Blood Demon-D] card. As a result, although the [Blood Demon-D] card could be used normally due to the influence of the Light of Destruction, there was no data for this card in the International Illusion Society's database. As a result, Dartz was unable to find out the card's effect through his own means.

However, Hayato's terminal is not limited to [Blood Demon-D]. His opponent is Dartz, and this is the crucial final battle. He will not hold back.

"By banishing 'Disruptor Modified' from my Graveyard, I activate its effect by targeting the three 'Disruptor' monsters that I banished. Those monsters are returned to the Deck and shuffled. Then, I draw one card from my Deck." Hayato returned the three 'Disruptor' monsters he had previously used to Special Summon 'A', 'B', and 'C' to his Deck. After the Duel Disk was automatically shuffled, Hayato drew a card, returning his hand to two cards.

Then, Hayato took two more cards from his graveyard and picked up [A-Assault Core] from the field as well, saying, "I banish [B-Destroyer Dragon], [C-Crusher Wyvern], and [A-Assault Core] from my graveyard!"

"The Requiem will restore the world of the Perfect God! Embrace me! [ABC - Dragon Annihilator]!"

The three-body mechanical monster disassembled and reassembled on Hayato's field, forming a brand new weapon.

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【8☆/Light】

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

【3000/2800→2800/3000】

"I set one card face down and activate the Continuous Spell Card [Nightmare Mirage], End of Turn."

[Hayato: 4000LP, 0 cards in hand]

【Disruption·Blue】【ATK1000】

【D-hero Blood Demon-D】(Metallic Parasitic Creature - Moon Garment)【DEF1900】

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【DEF3000】

【Nightmare of the Mirage】【GaiKa】

(Location) [Land of Disturbance]

Hayato looked at the area he had set up and said smugly to Dartz, "Now, it's your turn to play the game."

Chapter 660 Reforging the Ceremony's Glory: They can pull out any ceremony they want.

From Hayato's deck, the ever-unruly [Disruptive Yellow] peeked out and looked at Hayato's field.

"Hey~ Annie's really serious this time."

Also peeking out was Little Blue [Laundry Dragon Girl] from Hayato's graveyard: "Oh, so many powerful monsters!"

[Disruption Yellow]: "Blood Demon-D, which is unaffected by the opponent's spell card effects and can negate the opponent's monster effects!"

Little Blue: "The [ABC-Dragon Annihilator] can banish opponent's cards during their turn and even hide itself in the graveyard!"

They exchanged a glance, and then [Disruption·Yellow] and Little Blue said in unison, "And, the two of us who are incredibly powerful!"

"Designated to slaughter indiscriminately!"

In the back-and-forth banter between the two, Darz began his turn: "My turn, draw the card."

"The moment you enter your Standby Phase, the Continuous Spell Card [Nightmare Mirage] activates!" Hayato exclaimed as Dartz drew a card, reaching for his deck with his right hand. "During your opponent's Standby Phase, I draw cards from my deck until I have four cards in my hand. Draw!"

As he spoke, Hayato drew four cards in one go, instantly replenishing most of his hand that had been depleted in the previous turn.

"The gold and silver treasures that thieves see in the desert are nothing but a mirage, easily shattered, and so are the future and hopes that human civilization can see now." Dartz shook his head slightly and commented, "Now Hayato, you have drawn four cards, which means that in your next turn's preparation phase, you will also need to discard four cards from your hand."

Dartz, who had observed Hayato for a long time, was naturally familiar with the [Nightmare Mirage]. He also glanced at the two cards that Hayato had placed face down on the back of the field.

Just as Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes White Dragons are always paired with Fusion and Fusion Deactivation, and Jonouchi's Angel's Dice and Demon's Dice are always used together, Hayato's Nightmare Mirage is always used in conjunction with the Quick-Play Spell Card Extraordinary Food.

This combo allows Hayato to draw four cards as a second card at the cost of two, with a 100% return rate, and can even recover 1000 base points in one go.

That "Extraordinary Food" card is probably covered up between those two cards now, right?

"Hmph, that's hard to say, Dartz. As long as I want to do it, the future I resist won't come to me." Hayato said bluffingly, looking at the four perfect cards he had drawn.

Hayato was satisfied with his current field setup. After all, as far as he knew, neither Dartz's [Core] deck, which was heavily targeted when he dueled with him before, nor the [Orichalcos] deck used in the duel with Yugi, Kaiba, and the other two, could match his "pure" Dragon Maid deck.

However, Hayato overlooked one point: the [Core] deck was a collection of cards that Dartz had casually gathered over the millennia, almost as a pastime, and the [Orichalcos] cards were based on the power Dartz gained from the "Orichalcos God".

However, Dartz, the emperor of the Atlantis civilization, which flourished even before the birth of human civilization ten thousand years ago, only now reveals the power he possesses to Hayato.

"During my Main Phase, I Summon 'Man-Handed God' in Attack Position." Dartz plays a monster card from his hand onto the field, ready to activate its effect. "When 'Man-Handed God' is successfully Summoned/Flip Summoned, I activate its effect. I draw from my Deck—"

As Dartz was speaking, he was about to take a card from his deck, but to his surprise, the Duel Disk on his left hand, which was made of dark power, released an electric current and stopped him from searching for a card.

"Oh? You want to retrieve that [Mirror Knight Summoner] or its matching Ritual Spell Card from your deck, Dartz?" Hayato immediately thought of the cheating card Dartz had used when he was sealed in the alternate dimension.

With one Ritual Spell Card, one Tribute Card, and one Ritual Monster, you can summon as many tokens as possible on your field without any cost. Each of these tokens has exaggerated battle resistance and combat power. They can be used for aggressive attacks to clear monsters or as Tributes to summon powerful monsters. Even though Link Summoning doesn't exist yet, [Mirror Knight Summoner] can still be considered a powerful Ritual Monster.

Naturally, Hayato assumed that Dartz was going to summon the monster, since Dartz had already demonstrated the same process when dueling with the other players.

Seeing Dartz's puzzled expression as he looked at his Duel Disk, Hayato put his hands on his hips and said smugly, "Letting me take the first move and set up the field is your biggest failure, Dartz. From the moment I summoned [D-hero Blood Demon-D], you no longer had the right to play the game."

"As long as [D-hero Blood Demon-D] is in my Monster Zone, all face-up monster effects on your field will be negated!"

Upon hearing Hayato's explanation, Dartz looked at his own field and noticed that the pool of blood Hayato had summoned [Blood Demon-D] had not left the [Disruptive Land] but had gradually spread to his own field, and the newly summoned [Man-Handed God] had stepped right into it.

The tainted blood stained the bronze statue, rendering its effects nullified and wasting Dartz's precious normal summon.

【God of Ten Thousand Hands】【4☆/Light】

[Angel Race/Effect]

【1400/1000→1000/1400】

Compared to Edward's original [Blood Demon - D], Hayato's physical card version of [Blood Demon - D] lacks the ability to "gain the effect of an equipped monster" like a fake card. However, as compensation, it gains a double-standard version of the [Skill Drain] effect that can be activated as a single card without the need for [D-Power].

All monsters on Dartz's field will have their effects negated, but monsters on Hayato's field will remain unaffected. Furthermore, this is a continuous effect that does not require activation. As a result, the "Man-Handed God" that was just summoned by Dartz cannot use its effect to search for Ritual Monsters or Ritual Spell Cards from the Deck.

Seeing that his development move had failed, Dartz remained calm: "I see. So you blocked the effects of the monsters on my field, which is why you specifically equipped that [Blood Demon-D] with a Union Monster as protection to prevent it from being destroyed?"

“But Hayato, that alone isn’t enough to seal off my full power. While all monster effects on the field will be negated, the monster cards in my hand will remain unaffected.” As she spoke, Dartz revealed a card from her hand to Hayato. “Discard [Shadow of Remnants] from my hand and activate its effect!”

Damn, Dartz, what's wrong with you? Why are you playing with the [Legacy] style?

Seeing Dartz discard the card that had been sent to the grave, Hayato's heart stopped, and he mentally complained.

First, there's the [Nuclear] deck, which is so weak, and then there's the [Relic] deck, which is so outdated. Dartz, are you some kind of old-fashioned relic?

Speaking of Ritual Summoning, a summoning method abandoned by Foundation K, Hayato is naturally familiar with it. After all, he himself has what can be called the strongest Ritual Deck, "Jun" [Dragon's Radiance Takumi]. However, because he was disgusted by Dartz's counter card [Core Demon] last time, Hayato did not continue to use the [Dragon's Radiance Takumi] deck in this duel that he had to win. Instead, he chose the [Half-Dragon Maid] deck.

There are many different ritual decks, each with its own characteristics. For example, there is the "Giant Relic" deck, where the ritual monster itself can be used as a ritual spell card; the "Avenger" deck, which is ritually summoned from the graveyard; and the "Shadow Robe" deck, which uses cards from the Extra Deck as tributes. The "Relic" deck naturally has its own unique features, a rather annoying one.

"Because of the effect of [Relic Shadow], I can add one [Relic] Ritual Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. The card I chose is this one, [Relic Forbidden Secret Technique], and I activate it."

This time, Dartz retrieved a Ritual Spell Card from her deck not by using the effects of monsters on the field, but by using the effects of monsters discarded from her hand and sent to the Graveyard. She showed it to Hayato and said,

"【The Forbidden Secret Technique of the Legacy】I can Ritual Summon a 【Legacy】 monster by Tributing monsters whose combined Levels on my field and my opponent's field equal to the Level of the Ritual Summoned Monster!"

That's right. Just like how, with the added effect of [Dark World - Shadow Utopia], monsters from [Hellfire Machine] can use their excessive "Tribute" effect to Tribute powerful monsters from the opponent as the cost of their own effect, the most annoying thing about the [Ritual] deck is that it can use the opponent's monsters to Tribute for Ritual Summoning!

Hayato watched with a dark expression as his invincible monsters, [D-hero Blood Demon-D] and [Disruption Blue], were sent to the graveyard.

Despite Hayato equipping [Blood Demon-D] with the Union Monster [Metallic Parasite - Moon Robe] to prevent Dartz from playing Minotaur or even flipping the table, thus granting it resistance to opponent's spell card effects, the "release" of [Forbidden Secret Technique of Legacy] was the power of the rules and ignored all resistance. Both monsters, along with the blood pool in the center of [Land of Disorder], dissipated, turning into ten stars that floated towards Dartz's field.

"The Atlantean civilization was closely connected with the ocean. My ancestors lived alongside the elves and ultimately obtained this secret technique. However, with the arrival of the power of Orichalcos, the uncontrolled human heart and darkness induced this secret technique to mutate, causing the Atlanteans to become twisted and deformed."

As Dartz spoke, he held up a blue-bordered card above his head, "The total level is 10☆. Take heed of this depravity! Fear! That thing that surges from the sea!"

"Ritual Summoning! [Evil Remnant Soul Giant]!"

Behind Dartz, a towering giant rose from the sudden surge of black tide, its four strange, powerful arms assuming a fighting stance. As soon as it appeared, it shattered the buildings in the Land of Disorder.

Because the [Disruption] monster disappeared from Hayato's field, [Disruption Village] lost its power to reverse the attack and defense of monsters. Even worse, Hayato also lost [Blood Demon-D], which had a powerful suppression effect, allowing the monsters on Dartz's field to regain their effects.

[Evil Legacy Soul Giant] [10☆/Water]

[Aquarium/Ritual/Effect]

【3200/0→1600/0】

【God of Ten Thousand Hands】【ATK1000→1400】

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【DEF3000→2800】

Due to the effect of the [Forbidden Secret Technique Passed Down Through Generations], the [Evil Legacy Soul Giant Spirit] appears, using Hayato's monster as a sacrifice.

However, as we all know, powerful cards often come with huge risks.

The attack power of the [Forbidden Secret Technique] summoned by the ritual has dropped from 3200 points, which was more than the attack power of [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], to only 1600 points, half of its original attack power, due to the card's effect. Furthermore, Dartz cannot enter the Battle Phase this turn.

Even if the battle phase is possible, the attack power of the two monsters on Dartz's field is simply not enough to break through the backside of Hayato's [ABC-Dragon Destroyer].

Although Hayato was aware of the ability of [Relic] to release opponent's monsters as tributes for his own Ritual Summon, that was about all he knew. Since he hadn't played [Relic] much or dueled with it many times, Hayato didn't remember what the effect of the card [Evil Relic Soul Giant] was.

However, since it didn't activate its effect immediately upon entering the scene, it's likely not activated upon entering the scene, meaning it needs to be activated proactively, which gives Hayato an opportunity to take control.

"Although I don't know what abilities that monster has, I'll activate the effect of [ABC-Dragon Annihilator] first!" Hayato said, sending a card from his hand to the graveyard. "Once per turn, you can discard a card from your hand and target a card on the field to activate this effect. Banish that card, and this effect can be activated during your opponent's turn!"

"How dare you unleash my Tamashi [Blood Demon-D]! I'm the one who always unleashes other people's monsters, you're unforgivable, Dartz!"

Hayato pointed to the [Evil Remnant Soul Giant] behind Dartz, "Pull out the [Evil Remnant Soul Giant] on your field!"

The card that Hayato sent to the graveyard was used as energy to fill the cannon barrel. The two cannons of [ABC-Dragon Annihilator] skipped the charging process and fired two laser beams directly, which pierced through the body of [Evil Remnant Soul Giant], which had been on the field for less than ten seconds. The four-armed giant was killed in just a few seconds, and even its remains were erased.

Dartz, however, remained relaxed as he looked at the smoking [ABC-Dragon Destroyer] and said, "The powerful effect of banishing cards during the opponent's turn is quite something. It's a bit of a shame about [Evil Relic Soul Giant], but it forced out the one-time effect of your monster, Hayato."

"Although it has been banished, I still have to mention that the effect of [Evil Legacy Soul Giant] is that by paying me 1000 Life Points, I can draw a card from my deck and reveal it to both of us. If that card is a [Legacy] monster, I can also select a card on the field and return it to its owner's deck."

Dartz glanced at the three cards in his hand, then pulled one out and said, "But now, I'm going to go all out, Hayato."

"Activate the Spell Card, [Advanced Ritual], send Normal Monsters from my Deck to the Graveyard until the total Levels equal the Ritual Summoned Monster, and Ritual Summon 1 Ritual Monster from my hand."

As Dartz spoke, he drew a card that Hayato hadn't expected, "The Normal Monster I sent to the Graveyard is a Level 1☆ [White Rabbit]!"