Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Maximum value six, Yada Thief!" Jonouchi was so happy when he saw the final result that he almost jumped for joy. "Because of the effect, the attack power of [One-Sword-Two-Slice Samurai] will be increased!"

"500 points will become 6 times, that is, 3000 points!"

"Attack the Sealed Beast - Baolong, [One-Sword Two-Slice Samurai]!"

"Quickly walk Iai!"

Amplified by the angel's power, the weak [One-Sword-Two-Slash Servant] unleashed an astonishing aura in an instant, drew his sword, and vanished from the spot.

When its gaze returned, it was already behind [Sealed Beast - Baolong], slowly sheathing the katana in its hand.

"So slow." He uttered a calm English sentence, and the sword of [One-Sword-Two-Severing Samurai] was just sheathed. A huge wound suddenly appeared on the strong body of [Sealed Beast - Protector Dragon], cutting it in two from head to tail.

"Although he was treated as an ordinary being by the seahorse, he managed to unleash a brilliance equal to that of the Blue Eyes. Indeed, Jonouchi, like the Red-Eyes, is full of potential." Hayato smiled sincerely in the audience.

[Putah: 300LP→0]

"I hereby declare that the winner of the first match of the quarterfinals is Katsuya Jonouchi!" The old butler appeared precisely at the dueling platform after Ptah Garlem's health points reached zero, announcing the result. "While the quarterfinals will eliminate players, unlike the kingdom's selection tournament, the loser can remain in the castle to watch the rest—"

“There’s no need for that!” It was Ptah, who had lost the match, who interrupted the old deacon.

He gripped the armrests on either side of the dueling platform, his eyes bloodshot as he stared intently at Jonouchi: "I'll remember you, Jonouchi Katsuya. Cherish the victory you've taken from me, for one day I will take it back from you!"

Without waiting for the escalator behind him to extend, he jumped directly over the dueling platform, ran into the passageway, and disappeared. Seeing this, Ptah Garlem's secretary in the audience hurriedly ran off to look for his young master.

However, Ptah was ultimately the loser, and now everyone's attention was focused on the city.

Having won the match, he let out a deep breath, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Turning to look at his teammates in the stands, he smiled and said, "Haha, Grandpa Jonouchi said it all along, I was the winner, wasn't I?"

"Stop being so cocky, Jonouchi," Honda replied, then smiled and said, "Congratulations."

"Congratulations!" Kyoko smiled and clapped.

Game: "Congratulations, Jonouchi-kun."

Tapirang: "Congratulations, Lord of the City."

"Congratulations, Jonouchi," Hayato said with a smile and applause.

But just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly felt an uncomfortable gaze fixed on him.

Looking back, the guy called "Lemuria" was looking in their direction, still wearing that incomprehensible smile.

Chapter 116 Hayato VS Keith

The first match has ended, but the rest of the matches must continue. On his way to the stands, the old butler had already begun to make arrangements for the contestants in the second match.

In the two profile picture frames, the portraits of Jonouchi and Ptah Garlem disappeared, while the portraits of the other six people changed rapidly before stopping.

It's Hayato, and the thief Keith.

"Tch, it's this guy. What bad luck." Sitting at the highest point of the audience, the thief Keith saw his own image appear on the screen and glanced unhappily at Hayato not far in front of him.

Because of the demonstration duel at the opening of Duel Kingdom, almost all the participants were impressed by Hayato, who defeated the Japanese national champion, Insect Moth. [Disruptive Land], a permanent version of the card with the effect of "Sword in Left Hand, Shield in Right Hand"; [Disruptive Yellow], which repeatedly jumped between the graveyard and the field and even got cooked; and the troublesome [Rainbow Kuriboh].

Although he believed he wouldn't lose to a "kid" like Hayato, it didn't stop Keith from taking Hayato seriously.

"However, that brat's deck composition was almost completely exposed in the previous battle, and none of the people who witnessed my duel are here. It seems that I have a clear advantage." Keith stood up, intending to go to the backstage player preparation area to modify his deck, especially to add a few cards that counter Warrior-type decks.

But Keith, who was walking backstage with his back to the crowd, was unaware of this. Hayato glanced at him, his thoughts a jumbled mess of thoughts.

'I remember, the monsters that thief Keith usually uses are gambling monsters, mostly machine-type, I think? Should I put in a few [System Crash] cards?'

Ten minutes passed quickly. Hayato and Keith each prepared their duel decks and stood on the elevator that automatically led to the duel arena.

Looking at Hayato opposite him, Keith felt quite annoyed: young, with decent dueling skills, and handsome—this brat was just too annoying. And he'd heard that Pegasus, that bastard, had specially invited him?

"Hey, kid."

Hayato had just stood on the dueling platform, about to take out his deck and put it on, when he heard Keith's voice. He looked up at him and asked, "What's up, old man?"

"No, it's nothing, just a well-intentioned reminder from an adult." Keith gave a mysterious smile. "Although you have some skill in Duel Monsters, the waters here are very deep, and you can't handle it."

"In particular, adults' thoughts are much more profound than those of you ignorant kids."

Hayato looked at Keith's smug smile, somewhat puzzled, but returned the smile: "Then, please give me some pointers, Uncle?"

The old deacon stood at the edge of the dueling platform and announced, "Both contestants are ready. I hereby announce that the second match of the Duel Kingdom Top Eight Selection Tournament will be between Kobayashi Hayato and Keith Howard."

"The competition officially begins!"

"Duel!" x2

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Keith: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll take the first turn! My turn, draw!" Hayato confidently seized the initiative, drawing a card from his deck. Looking at his perfectly formed red and green hand, Hayato smiled. "A duel is all about smiling. Uncle Keith, let me bring you joy with this duel!"

"Summon a monster in Defense Position, then set three cards face down." With his only monster face down, Hayato skillfully placed three face-down cards in his back row. "End my turn."

[Hayato: 4000LP, 2 cards in hand]

[Inner Side Defense]

[Signature Card][Signature Card][Signature Card]

'So, you're setting up a defense to survive my first attack, then planning to counterattack next turn?' Keith glanced at Hayato's monsters and smiled. 'But I've already considered that!'

"My turn, draw!" Keith draws a card from his deck and adds it to his hand, then plays a card from his hand. "Attack Position Summon [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon]!"

A four-legged, hound-like mechanical beast appeared on Keith's field. Although its body was generally bionic, the head of this [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] was shaped like a pistol. As soon as it appeared on the field, the [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] fired a red laser from its head, aiming at the monster guarding the inner side of Hayato's field.

“When the Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon is summoned to the field, it can choose one card on your field to activate its effect and destroy it,” Thief Keith explained. “However, there is only a 50% chance that the Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon’s barrel is loaded with bullets, so there is also a 50% chance that its effect will activate.”

"So, it's a gambling card too. It's a real shame you're not facing Jonouchi. I was really looking forward to the King of Gamblers tournament." Hayato shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly unconcerned about Keith's monster effect. "However, I think I've had pretty good luck."

"Heh heh, let's see who's luckier then." Keith ordered, "[Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon], fire at that monster in defense position!"

"Click-clack-click-clack!"

At a command, the mechanism on the head of the [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] deformed and made a "click-click" sound. The two barrels, which were originally arranged one above the other, were assembled together end to end, becoming a long barrel. A magazine popped out from the rear and connected to the barrel.

Amidst expectant gazes, the trigger connected to the gun barrel was pulled.

"Oh!"

The firing pin ignited the gunpowder, and a bullet shot out of the barrel, instantly destroying the monster Hayato was covering. Clearly, the effect of [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] had been successfully activated.

"Oh no, if that's the case, Hayato won't have any cover on the field!" Jonouchi said worriedly from the stands. "It would be bad if he got attacked directly."

[Double-barreled pistol dragon] [4☆/Dark]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[1700/200]

Seeing Hayato's monster destroyed, though he couldn't make out what kind of monster it was, it didn't seem to be his most fearsome [Rainbow Kuriboh]. Thief Keith said smugly, "Now I can attack directly."

"【Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon】, a direct attack on the duelist!"

The mechanism on the head of the [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] had just folded and retracted when it received another command from its controller. Being a machine, it didn't complain. The [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon]'s head was loaded with bullets, and a bullet was fired from the barrel.

But to the thief Keith's surprise, the bullet struck a suddenly appearing wall with a clang, failing to penetrate its defenses. A hand emerged from the sand and gravel wall, caught the bullet, let out a howl like a living creature, and threw the bullet back onto Keith's field. The attacking [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] was instead destroyed by its own bullet.

Even Keith himself was injured in the battle as a result.

[Keys: 4000LP → 3700LP]

"What! Where did that monster come from?!"

Seeing the thief Keith's surprised expression, Hayato explained, "The effect of [Sand Swamp Monster] is that when it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by means other than battle while face down in Defense Position, it is Special Summoned to the field after exchanging its ATK and DEF."

"Weapons and guns are always a double-edged sword. Don't suffer the consequences, Uncle Keith."

【Sand Swamp Monster】【4☆/Land】

[Rock Faction/Effect]

【1000/2000→2000/1000】

Chapter 117 The Combo of Giant Formation and Toll Reappears

"Great!"

Jonouchi watched as Hayato escaped the original crisis and even destroyed the monster that Keith had summoned during his turn, and laughed happily. "He actually destroyed the opponent's monster during his turn. Next turn, Hayato only needs to summon a few more monsters and he can easily win."

"I thought the national champion was really that good, but it turns out he's not even as good as that insect bastard."

Jonouchi's words stung the fragile heart of the thief Keith. He glared resentfully at the audience seats where Jonouchi was, and said angrily, "You wretched brat, shut up!"

He turned back to look at the field, his eyes fixed on Hayato through his sunglasses, thinking, 'This brat, did he already know I would use a monster with destructive effects?!'

'No, that's absolutely impossible. The ability to read minds is troublesome enough with just that bastard Pegasus; it must be a coincidence. Besides, the [Sand Swamp Monster]'s defenses are pretty good; this guy just got lucky.'

Thinking of this, Keith calmed down a bit: "Kid, you're lucky you guessed right this time, you just happened to have this kind of card with you."

"But your luck ends here. I'm getting serious now!"

With that, Keith played a card from his hand: "Let me show you the card that made me famous! Activate the Spell Card, [Thief]!"

"[Thief] has the ability to see the opponent's hand and steal one of their cards. You've humiliated me, pay with your own cards!"

"Not only can you see the cards in your hand, but you can also take one directly. That's so unfair!" Hayato complained about the card [Thief], placing his hand cards on the designated display area of ​​the duel arena. He remembered that the [Thief] card was so powerful that it wasn't even made into a physical card.

The name "Thief" Keith comes from both his reputation as a bounty hunter who swept the prize money of major Duel Monster tournaments across the United States, and from the fact that his most frequently used card is this "Thief" card. Taking other people's cards and then using them to defeat them—that's "Thief," Keith Murongfu Howard.

"Let me see what kind of cards you have." With a smug smile, Keith looked towards the dueling stage. Hayato's two cards were now being virtually projected in front of Keith. "[Last Will] and [Goblin Thief], hehe, not bad cards."

"Although this [Goblin Thief] seems perfect for me, I haven't forgotten your annoying [Disruptive] monsters." Keith pointed to the [Last Words], "I'll choose this card."

After Keith selected the "Last Words," the display area of ​​Hayato's duel arena flipped, and the "Last Words" were delivered to Keith the Thief by the duel arena's mechanism. Hayato also returned "Goblin Thief" to his hand.

He caught the [Last Word] that popped out from the duel arena. Because [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] was destroyed by Hayato, the thief Keith now met the conditions to use [Last Word]. Thinking that it wasn't his card and he wouldn't feel bad using it, he used [Last Word]:

"I activate the effect of [Last Will], because my [Double-Barreled Pistol Dragon] was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard this turn, so I can Special Summon a monster with 1500 or less ATK from my Deck."

"Anything with an attack power below 1500 is just trash." Hayato looked at the [Last Will] that had returned to his side after being used by the thief Keith, and placed it in the graveyard with a hint of reluctance.

Keith flipped through his deck and began searching, his gaze sweeping over the monsters in his deck one by one. He paused briefly on a monster that he had specifically put in the deck for Hayato, and then continued searching.

"The [Cipher Scout] is meant to deal with Warrior-type monsters, but its basic attack power is too weak. It would be a waste to summon it now and have it destroyed by that [Sand Swamp Monster]."

"The monster I'm summoning to the field is this one, [Electric Torture Machine]." After selecting the monster and summoning it to the field, Keith began shuffling his deck. However, as a former professional duelist, he used a special technique, shuffling the cards he had just selected from the deck to the top of the deck in the order he wanted.