Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"A mere meteorite? Watch me push it back."

Grandma said...

"It can certainly be used next time."

None of the above will appear

Chapter 125 Yawning, I Can't Stop

Keith, who was unconscious, was taken away by the International Illusion Society for the crime of "attacking Pegasus," and his whereabouts are unknown. In any case, according to the old deacon, he will be expelled from the island and receive the punishment he deserves.

The third duel was between Yugi and Mai, meaning the fourth duel would be between Samejima Iemitsu and Lemuria. Pegasus left after watching Hayato's duel, seemingly uninterested in Yugi's upcoming duel. This angered Jonouchi, who felt that Pegasus was looking down on Yugi, and that looking down on Yugi was looking down on him.

Hayato, walking alone in the corridor, felt that Pegasus might think that Yugi and Mai were not evenly matched opponents, and that Mai had no ability to bring out more of Yugi's potential. Therefore, Pegasus was not very interested in the third duel, because he had already seen through the outcome of the duel and knew that Yugi would win.

After finishing his duel, Hayato didn't stay in the stands to watch the game. Instead, he told Jonouchi and the others that he had left something in his room and needed to go back to get it, and then left the dueling hall. However, it was just an excuse.

He took out two cards from his person, and two Disruption Monsters, [Disruption Blue] and [Disruption Red], jumped out of the cards and appeared in front of Hayato.

"It's time for you to be useful, you small fry."

"Yes, my lord!"

After the two [Disruption] monsters saluted Hayato in a playful manner, they began searching for the aura of the three [Disruption] brothers that Hayato had placed on Keibai.

Although according to the anime's plot, Pegasus would release Kaiba, Keihei, and Sugoroku after being defeated by Yugi, Keith's previous fate forces Hayato to consider a question—whether Pegasus ultimately lives or dies? Because according to the manga's plot, Pegasus was killed by "Dark Bakura" after his duel with Yugi.

Although he had already banished "Dark Bakura" through the Dark Game, considering that "Dark Bakura" had repeatedly teetered between life and death in the original work, Hayato had no doubt that the guy would come back for revenge.

This changes the previously certainty that "defeating Pegasus will release the souls he holds." If something unexpected happens, and Pegasus dies, and Keihei, Kaiba, and Sugoroku can't turn back, that would be terrible.

Just then, a shout from [Disruption Blue] brought Hayato back to his senses: "Hey, I found [Yellow] and the others!"

Blue, like a dog, crawled on all fours, sniffing around with its non-existent nose. Then, as if it had spotted a scent it wanted, it excitedly stood up and pointed in a direction: "It's over there! I can smell durian on Brother Yellow!"

Hayato's head popped up in a well shape, and he grabbed [Disruption Blue] by the back of the neck, pulling it up in front of him: "Don't you want to listen to what you're saying? You idiot, you don't even have a nose, okay? How are you going to smell durian?!"

"It's a bond between us, the [Disruption] clan!" [Disruption Blue] declared confidently.

"I'll trust you this time. Lead the way!" Hayato put [Disruption Blue] back on the ground, looked up at the security camera in the corridor, and gave the person on the other end of the camera a provocative smile. "We need to steal it before our master finds out. Phantom Thief of Hearts, strike!"

Watching Hayato put the card back in his pocket and leave on the screen, Pegasus sat upright in his seat, put down his fairy tale book, and smiled with interest: "As expected, you always manage to surprise me, Hayato boy~"

The old deacon behind him asked, "Lord Pegasus, should we move the Seahorse Brothers' location?"

“No, let’s leave them where they are. No matter where we take them, Hayato will always find a way to find them, right?” The old butler didn’t have the talent for this, but Pegasus clearly saw [Disruption Red] and [Disruption Blue] appear beside Hayato. “The number of card spirits he can control is getting more and more. I thought the power on Keibei was a backup plan left by Kaiba…”

"Now that I look at it, it turns out it was a piece of yarn left behind by Hayato-boy."

Pegasus calmly took a sip of red wine, enjoying the aftertaste. He opened his single eye, which was visible through his silver hair: "In Greek mythology, Theseus solved the Minotaur's labyrinth with a ball of yarn, but even heroes who want to gain final glory must accept the challenge of the Minotaur."

He waved his hand behind him: "Let those two losers go over there. Consider it a chance for them to redeem themselves. It'll also be a small challenge for Hayato-boy."

"Yes, Your will." The old deacon withdrew to carry out Pegasus's orders, and the image on the screen in front of Pegasus changed to the footage from the dueling hall, where the duel between Mai Kujaku and Yugi Muto had begun.

In her search for an answer, Mai followed Hayato's advice and challenged Yugi. However, she was angered by the arrogant Jonouchi and changed her opponent, ultimately losing to Jonouchi's "Time Magician" power.

This time, Mai finally faced off against Yugi, and right at the start of the duel she summoned her favorite Harpy, using various support cards to wreak havoc on Yugi's back row, gaining the upper hand for a time.

“The Harpy card is good at controlling the back row, which is perfect for countering Game Boy’s deck that mainly uses Spell & Trap cards. However…” Pegasus paused, then picked up the fairy tale book again and started reading. “Game Boy’s potential is just the tip of the iceberg; there is still a lot more potential that has not yet been discovered.”

"Compared to those duels that put you to sleep, the stories in this book are much more interesting." Muttering to himself, Pegasus seemed to have found something amusing in the fairy tale and burst into laughter.

Under the seemingly unreliable guidance of [Disruption Blue], Hayato actually found the passage leading to the castle's underground. He went down the stairs, pushed open the door, and what came into Hayato's view were two rows of dark, gloomy, and empty cages.

"Eek! This place looks terrifying!" [Disruption Red] clutched Hayato's hair, seemingly frightened by the dungeon's completely different style from the castle above. "Could someone have died here before?"

“Not possibly, definitely.” Hayato walked along the central corridor of the dungeon, casually pointing to an empty cage beside him. A pale skeletal arm emerged from between the iron bars, its owner resting its head against the cage.

Chapter 126 Hayato's Temporary Guest Appearance as Theseus

"Aaaaaah!!! It's a dead person!!!"

A hand blocked [Disruption Red] from getting closer, and Hayato glanced at the skeleton he had just pointed to: "Nothing strange about it, is there? Pegasus's International Illusion Company may be a relatively young company, but this castle of his has been passed down from his ancestors."

“In those days, a private island was practically a kingdom of one’s own. It wasn’t surprising that the Pegasus family would lock up and torture people they didn’t like in dungeons…”

"Ani, you've gone too far with calming things down!" [Disruption Red] grabbed Hayato's fingers. "That's a dead man, a dead man! Don't you feel even the slightest bit of fear or panic?"

Hayato stopped and turned to look at the skeleton: "If it were a real dead person, I'd definitely be scared, but the problem is, this thing is fake..."

As he spoke, he reached out and picked up the severed skeletal arm from the ground, casually weighing it in his hand. Its light, flimsy texture revealed it to be made of foam. With a gentle press of his fingers, Hayato's five finger marks were clearly visible on the skeletal arm.

"His perverse sense of humor remains unchanged. So, the underground labyrinth that Yugi and the others visited was indeed Pegasus's doing." Hayato recalled Yugi and the others' encounter in the original timeline. "Now that the dungeon is here, can I guess that the Labyrinth Brothers are also here?"

"Yeah!"

"Drink!"

Two strange cries suddenly came from behind Hayato. Two dark shadows attacked him from behind, passed over his head, kicked the ceiling, changed direction, and landed in front of Hayato. Although he was underground, Hayato felt as if two suns had appeared in front of him.

Sun One and Sun Two stood side by side, striking a dashing kung fu pose, and shouted in unison, "Style, Maze!"

"Style, Dongfang Bubai, please enlighten me!" Hayato replied instinctively, but he quickly realized, "You two aren't the Labyrinth Brothers, are you? Weren't you defeated by Yugi and Jonouchi?"

Sun One, the older brother "Mi," made a white crane spreading its wings gesture: "Roar, did you learn about their experiences from your companions? That's right, we were once defeated by Jonouchi Katsuya and Muto Yugi."

The younger brother, "Gong," then coordinated with his older brother's action with a "black tiger plucks the heart" move: "However, the forgiving and merciful Lord Pegasus has given us a second chance to redeem ourselves. We, the Labyrinth Brothers, having failed once before,"

"resurrection!"

Looking at the two labyrinth brothers who seemed to die if they didn't move while talking, Hayato tilted his head: "Let me guess, what's your next sentence..."

"Hayato Kobayashi, don't even think about getting through here unless you fight us!"

"Hayato Kobayashi, if you're not going to duel us, then... what?!"

Seeing the two bald men across from him looking helpless, Hayato shrugged: "I guess this is the world of card players? Everyone's got a card-playing brain. These two kung fu masters could easily control an ordinary high school student like me, but they just had to play cards."

"However, I won't refuse."

The ceiling above rumbled and cracked open with a straight, regular line. From the opened mechanism, a dueling platform slowly descended from above. On Hayato's side, the dueling platform was no different from usual, but on the side where the Labyrinth Brothers were, there were two platforms.

"Hahoo!"

With a graceful somersault, the Maze Brothers jumped onto the dueling platform before it had fully descended, placed their decks, and activated the platform, displaying a value of "4000" on the panel showing their life points.

Hayato's physical abilities were quite good for a high school student, but it was far too difficult for him to do a somersault onto the stage like the Labyrinth Brothers. The dueling platform slowly landed, crushing the "skull" arm that he had thrown back to its original spot.

"Ah, it's been crushed."

Ignoring the surprise of [Disruption Blue] behind him, Hayato stepped onto the dueling platform on his side. As he put down his deck, the number displayed on his Life Points panel was 8000.

The older brother, "Mi," said, "The duel will proceed in the order of 'Mi' → 'Kobayashi Hayato' → 'Miya' → 'Kobayashi Hayato' → 'Mi'. Each player can draw one card during their turn. The three players will be in a free-for-all with no allies. Also, neither player can enter the battle phase until the fourth round."

“However, I can share a grave with my brother, and the monsters on the field can share with each other, while the fields are independent of each other,” the younger brother, “Miya,” added.

"Furthermore, whether my brother or I reach zero health points, it won't affect the other side's duel. In other words, you have to defeat both of us."

After explaining the rules, the Labyrinth Brothers, without waiting for Hayato's agreement, drew five cards from their respective decks before asking, "Is there a problem, Hayato Kobayashi?"

"You guys have already started, so what difference does it make whether you ask or not?" Hayato complained, and pulled out his own card. "But, all things considered, I'm actually making a profit, so why would I have a problem with that?"

"So……"

"Duel!" x3

[Hayato: 8000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Fantasy: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

[Miya: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll take the first turn." Because Miyako had entered the duel arena before Hayato, he had already drawn all five cards and easily seized the first turn. His older brother, "Miyako," then kicked off the duel, saying, "My turn, draw a card."

"Hehe, I drew a pretty good monster." Mi said, glancing at Gong.

The brothers' unspoken understanding made Miya instantly realize the card Miya had drawn: "So he's going to summon that monster in the first turn? That's great, brother."

"Then, I'll activate the Spell Card first, 'Reduce Cost,' by discarding one card from my hand to reduce the Level of all monsters in my hand by two stars."

“Then I activated the Field Spell Card, [Legendary City - Atlantis], which reduced the Level of all WATER monsters in both players' hands and on the field by one star.” After consuming half of his hand resources, Mi revealed a smug expression, “In this way, the stage for the arrival is complete.”

"Normal Summon [Water Demon God - Ska] from my hand!"

In the virtual projection of the underwater ruins, a huge water sphere appeared out of nowhere and suddenly exploded, revealing a ferocious-looking monster that looked like a robot with the character "water" printed on its forehead.

【Water Demon God - Ska】【7☆/Water】

[Aquarium/Effect]

【2500/2400→2700/2600】

“Although it’s a Level 7 monster, I’ve lowered its Level by 3 stars, so it can be Normal Summoned without any tributes.” Having summoned his main monster, Mi seemed quite pleased with himself. “My turn is over.”

[Fantasy: 4000LP, 2 cards in hand]

【Water Demon God - Saga】【ATK2600】

Venue: [Legendary City - Atlantis]

Chapter 127 VtoZ Rebirth

Hayato glanced at the [Water Demon God - Saga] on the field, or more precisely, at the effect of the card at [Saga]'s feet, and thought: 'If I remember correctly, [Water Demon God] shares an effect with the other two [Demon Gods], which can reduce a monster's ATK to 0, meaning it's very difficult to destroy it through battle.'

"My turn, draw!" Hayato drew a card and activated a spell card. "Spell Card [Rough Man's Foresight]: I can activate this when I have no monsters on my field. Special Summon 1 monster of 4 stars or lower directly from my Deck. First monster: [X-Boss Cannon]!"

"Then there's the Spell Card [Frontline Base], which allows me to Special Summon one Union Monster from my hand once per turn. A second one, [Y-Dragon Head]!"

"Finally, my normal summons, the third entity, [Z-Metal Tracks]!"

With a series of moves that made it seem like he hadn't even shuffled his cards, Hayato spent four cards to instantly summon three monsters on the field: [X], [Y], and [Z]. But his summoning wasn't over yet. "To deal with you guys, this monster would be better, wouldn't it? The three monsters combine into one, [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]!"

The red, green, and yellow mechanical creations combined and transformed with each other, as if responding to the fact that the level 7 [Water Demon] was summoned in the first round, and Hayato also summoned the level 8 [XYZ-Dragon Cannon] in the first round.

"It's actually a level 8 [XYZ-Dragon Cannon]!" The Labyrinth Brothers were taken aback. In their eyes, it was already an amazing feat for the Labyrinth Brothers to be able to summon a level 7 [Water Demon God] in one turn, but they never expected that Hayato would pull off such a move as well.

“I’ll set one card to the top of my hand, and then I’ll activate [Heavenly Treasure Card]. All duelists can replenish their hands to 6 cards.” Hayato set one card to the top and activated his last card. “Since I have no cards in my hand, I can draw 6 cards.”

“Then I can draw 4 cards.” Mi had 2 cards in his hand, so he drew 4 cards from his deck, while Gong only drew one card since it wasn’t his turn yet.

Looking at his hand, Hayato activated another card: "Spell Card [Magic Stone Mining], discard two cards from your hand, and then I can reclaim one Spell Card from my Graveyard. The Spell Card I want to reclaim is this one, [Rough Man's Expectation]."