Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

If it were destroyed in battle, that would be one thing, but what's even stranger is that neither Exel nor Hayato suffered the slightest damage from the battle.

Even Exel was slightly taken aback by this situation: "What's going on?"

Seeing Exel's puzzled expression, Hayato casually said, "Unfortunately, the second effect of [Shadowdome Nephilim] can be activated during the damage step when it battles a Special Summoned monster, destroying that monster."

"Whether it's fusion, ritual, or other special summons, they all fall within the range of [Shadowdome Nephilim]'s special attack. That's the power of Camille! What's truly terrifying is my talent, hehehehe!"

With that, Hayato let out a wicked and arrogant laugh, and raised his hand again, "You've run out of tricks, haven't you? Well then, I'll use your own monster to give you a good beating, a direct attack from [Volcanic Blade]!"

"Flame Jet!"

The [Volcano Demon] summoned with the last face-down card was annihilated in an instant. Exor had completely struggled to the limit. With nothing in his hand or on the field, he directly took the attack of [Volcano Blade]. The burning pain brought by the scorching flames was rather unusual.

Did the Duel Disk ever provide such realistic feedback when he dueled with others before? It felt like he'd actually been splashed with lava. Amidst the pain, Exor couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with his memory.

What he didn't notice was that the [Millennium Wisdom Wheel] on Hayato's chest had been faintly glowing since the start of the duel.

Since Hayato stated from the beginning that this duel was a punishment and trial for the two thieves, Exor O'Brien and Fanny Valentine, who stole Nefertari's jewelry, this duel was naturally not an ordinary duel; in fact, it had already become a dark game.

However, Hayato is not like Meliamon, and he wouldn't kill anyone. This duel would only bring Exel pure mental pain, and it wouldn't be fatal. At most, it would be 500 points of damage, which is equivalent to the pain of having a piece of wood stuck in your fingernail and then kicking it hard against the corner of a cabinet.

After all, there is no duelist with a more compassionate heart than Hayato.

[Exercise: 4000→2200LP]

Having taken 1800 points of damage in one go, even though he had some experience of being shot on the battlefield before, Exer was in so much pain that he was questioning his existence and gasping for breath. This was no duel; it was more painful than having a bullet removed without anesthesia.

"Oh my, you're still standing and haven't lost consciousness?" Hayato looked at Exel, who was twitching in pain but still managing to stand unsteadily, and said with some surprise, "I was thinking that the pain might wake you up if you fainted, but will the next injury make you faint from the pain?"

As Hayato spoke, he pressed the button to activate a face-down card, revealing a face-down card: "Activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, 'Contact with the Divine Imposter,' send the Fusion Material Monsters determined by the 'Shaddoll' Fusion Monster from my hand and field to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon that 'Shaddoll' Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck."

"The materials are my FIRE-attribute [Volcanic Blade] and [Shadowdee Nephilim]!"

"Born from scorching volcanic lava, these dazzling gems, combined with the Phantom Dragon, form a seven-colored crystal. Descend, knight who seals special summons!"

"Fusion Summon! [Shadowdress - Divine Crystal]!"

【Goddess Nephilim】and 【Volcano Blade】were simultaneously enveloped in shadow, merging into one and rising into the air, from which emerged another enormous and majestic monster. Its body was adorned with seven-colored gems, and several phantom dragons coiled around its primordial core. Unlike 【Nephilim】, its red threads formed wing-like shapes.

【Shadowdew - Divine Child Crystal】【7☆/Fire】

[Rock Element/Fusion/Effect]

[2450/1950]

“If [Shaddoll Nephilim] is sent to the Graveyard by its effect, I retrieve one [Shaddoll] Spell/Trap Card from my Graveyard and add [Contact with the Voice of God] to my hand.” Hayato retrieved the card he had just activated and waved his hand, saying, “This is the final attack, go, [Shaddoll Divine Crystal]!”

"Just for my sake, I'll use the Flame Fist on the opposing duelist!"

Chapter 835 Full Counterattack

The jade stones at the joints of the enormous white knight shone brightly, and the wing-like threads on its back were wrapped around its fists. From a distance, the dancing crimson threads looked just like flames.

In order to coordinate with Hayato's attack command, the performance was specially changed to this form. [Kamikage-Kamikage Akira] threw a punch at Exel, who was caught off guard on the field.

The result is obvious—

"boom!"

Despite instinctively crossing his arms in front of him to defend against the impact that would accompany the attack, the attack from [Shadowdew - Divine Crystal] was simply not something that Exer could withstand with his own strength alone.

As the massive fist slammed down, Exel was seemingly sent flying through the air, leaving Fanny Valentine, who was standing nearby, utterly shocked.

Wait, this is clearly a card game, right? How did you suddenly fly out? It's impossible for that monster that attacked you to be a physical entity. And what's with that pained expression? Why does playing cards seem like it could kill you?

The pain inflicted on Exel by the higher-level and more powerful Shadowdike was almost 1000% greater than when he was directly attacked by [Volcanic Blade]. Even if he wanted to faint from the pain, he would be woken up by the pain the next second.

And his base score was reduced to zero.

[Exercise: 2200LP→0]

Lying sprawled on the ground in a disheveled state, Exer looked up at the enormous [Shadowbringer - Divine Child Crystal], gritted his teeth, and surprisingly stood up again. However, due to the intense pain emanating from all parts of his body despite having no external injuries, Exer's body trembled uncontrollably, and he swayed unsteadily, making it difficult for him to stand. At the same time, his movements as he reached out to retrieve the card were somewhat distorted.

"Although my Life Points have now been reduced to zero, I still have card effects in my Graveyard that I need to activate!"

"Huh? You actually got up again? After enduring such terrible suffering, instead of lying on the ground to face the reality of defeat, or just turning around and running away, you actually dare to approach me, Kobayashi Hayato?"

Hayato looked at Exel with some surprise, realizing that he could still stand up. He remembered that he had controlled the pain at a suitable threshold, a threshold that most people could not withstand but would not cause any permanent damage. Yet, Exel could still stand up.

And a card that can be used even when your life points are zero? That's really...

Gasping for breath, Exel looked at Hayato and said with difficulty, "As a mercenary, I always value the result more than the process. There is no doubt that you, the Duel King, Kobayashi Hayato, have won this duel. As a mercenary, I will accept this result."

“However, besides being a mercenary, I am also a duelist. Although I don’t have the same strength as you, I still have what is called ‘duelist’s pride’ in my heart. That makes it impossible for me to accept ending this duel in such a pointless way!”

"If [Volcano Counter Beast] is in the Graveyard and I take battle damage, I can banish it from the Graveyard to activate its effect." Exer's trembling fingers picked up a card from the Graveyard area of ​​the Duel Disk. As he picked up the card, perhaps due to his surging battle intent, his hand stopped trembling and he firmly held the [Volcano Counter Beast] card above his head!

"If there is an FIRE monster in my Graveyard other than [Volcano Retaliation Beast], inflict effect damage to your opponent equal to the battle damage you took!"

With his last breath, Exor O'Brien shouted to Hayato, "Even if I am defeated, I will leave behind even the slightest trace of my struggle and fight. Even if I am a god, I will pull the trigger of my counterattack!"

Honda, standing outside the arena, paused for a moment upon hearing this: "Has that card appeared before? When did it enter the graveyard?"

"Probably around the time of that [Lightning Vortex]. Tsk tsk tsk, it has the flaw of needing to discard a card to activate, yet it managed to send a card that can activate its effect in the graveyard into the graveyard?" Malik clicked his tongue, as if praising Exel.

Yugi nodded in agreement: "A true duelist can even take advantage of the negative effects of cards, and can still launch a counterattack even in this situation. It is truly admirable determination."

"Take this, Hayato Kobayashi! [Volcanic Counterattack Beast] Reflect your 'god's' attack! Full counterattack!"

Before Exel, lava monsters crawled out of the graveyard and retaliated by spewing weak flames at the towering "god." Even in defeat, Exel didn't want to accept the outcome of not inflicting any damage on Hayato at all, and wanted to leave as much damage as possible.

"They actually dared to bare their fangs at 'God,' which is somewhat disrespectful, but I don't dislike this will. Even I can't help but feel excited."

"but---"

As Hayato spoke, the attack from [Volcano Counterattack Beast] swept across the field and arrived in front of Hayato. The scorching magma twisted the air and landed on Hayato, instantly bursting out a large amount of white steam. It seemed to have successfully hit Hayato while also obscuring Exel's vision.

Against anyone else, Exer might have had a chance of success, but unfortunately, his opponent was Hayato, whose skill in utilizing the effects of cards from the graveyard was second to none. Under Exer's watchful gaze, Hayato's life points changed.

However, despite being hit by effect damage, Hayato's base score actually increased instead of decreasing?

[Hayato: 5000→7450LP]

Steam suddenly gathered in one direction, and Exer, filled with doubt, saw that a small yellow monster had appeared on Hayato's field at some point. It seemed to be the card that had been sent to the graveyard by "Darkness of the Scapegoat" earlier.

"When the opponent activates the effect of a Spell/Trap/Effect Monster that inflicts damage, you can banish this 'Damage Devourer' card from the Graveyard that was previously sent to my 'Darkness of the Scapegoat' and is currently in the Graveyard to activate this effect." Hayato took the card from the Graveyard, held it between his fingers, and shook it. "The damage effect is transformed into an effect that restores Life Points. This ability can also be activated during the opponent's turn."

"Unfortunately, disobeying me, who is a Kami, is an extremely foolish choice. No matter how bright your will shines, I am already immortal, hehehehehehehe!" With his hands on his hips, Hayato laughed arrogantly.

Seeing that even his final struggle had failed to harm Hayato, and that the majestic [Kamikage-Kamiko-Sekishin] still stood tall, Exel could only helplessly accept reality: "He really is strong enough, isn't he? No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for Kobayashi Hayato to call himself a 'god'..."

In the moment of mental relaxation, the accumulated pain finally broke Axel's will. His legs went weak, he lost consciousness, and collapsed to the ground. His nose seemed to have hit the ground and felt a lot of pain.

Chapter 836 [The Key to a Thousand Years] You like me, Fanny Valentine!

After only three rounds, the brief duel came to an end, with Hayato emerging victorious. Exel, meanwhile, collapsed from mental anguish that had exceeded his limits.

However, although Hayato turned the duel into a dark game, it ended there. Hayato had no intention of killing Exel, after all, there was no duelist more compassionate than him. Although Exel was the thief who dared to steal Nefertari's jewelry and had initially tried to point a gun at Hayato, Hayato had already punished him severely enough.

Furthermore, although Exel was just a mercenary who did things for money and whose hands weren't clean, Hayato still admired his performance as a duelist who never gave up until the very end.

At the end of the duel with Exer, the system, which was barely noticeable, calculated the DP points and also notified Hayato that a card had dropped after the duel with Exer.

Hayato put the unused "Mysterious Chinese Pot" (which could be used to cook monsters) from his Duel Disk, along with "Forbidden Cloth" (which grants monsters resistance to being targeted by card effects and destroyed by card effects), "Winged Dragon of Ra" and "Spirit Exophysis" from his hand back into his deck. He then casually picked up the card that had dropped from the system and took a look at it.

Unlike the strange drop that occurred during Hayato's duel with Samejima, where a card dropped by "Cyber ​​Stream" turned out to be "Necromantic Temptation," which was quite unexpected, Exer, who was using a deck with a very high purity of "Volcano," naturally dropped "Volcano" cards.

[Volcano Rocket] [4☆/Fire]

[Flame Clan/Effect]

[1900/1400]

This card is the one Hayato obtained. It has the ability to add one "Flame Cannon" card from the Deck or Graveyard to the hand when it is successfully Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned. "Flame Cannon" is the soul of the "Volcano" deck, and this card can be said to be a very important starting point for the "Volcano" deck.

The problem is, putting aside the question of whether they can actually obtain it, what other people who don't use the [Volcano] deck would possibly include a [Flame Cannon] in their deck that doesn't fit at all?

Even in Hayato's highly pure card pool, there isn't a card for "Flame Cannon"—wait, there seems to be one?

Hayato thought for a moment, then took out a card from his deck, the support card for [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra], [Divine Flame Cannon]. Although it was absurd, this card did indeed have the [Flame Cannon] field and was within the search range of [Volcanic Rocket].

Hayato, who had a hoarding habit like a hamster, put the card back in his warehouse and stored it away. He didn't even think about selling the card, which was actually only SR in rarity, in case he needed it someday.

After ending his duel with Exor, Hayato didn't forget one thing—Exor had received the punishment he deserved for his disrespect, but he wasn't the only thief.

At this moment, Fanny Valentine was unaware that Hayato had turned his attention to him. The bloated man looked at the fallen Exel with a disdainful expression, and his blond hair swayed as he shook his head.

"How pathetic, Exor O'Brien. He was just playing a monster duel with a brat, and he fell because of defeat? Even a highly regarded mercenary is nothing special. In the end, he's just a lowly pauper."

As he spoke, he caught a glimpse of a faint golden light emanating from Hayato's direction out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention there and saw Hayato taking out a golden object with an "Anka" rune design and a structure at one end that resembled a key that could open some kind of lock.

The light that had caught Valentine's attention was coming from there. However, unlike most people who would care why a gold ornament with no visible switch or light-emitting structure would emit light, Valentine's attention was completely focused on the key itself—the "Millennium Key" that Hayato had inexplicably obtained from Shadi.

"So beautiful! What is this? I felt an unprecedented power emanating from it, a charm that transcends all comprehension!" Fanny Valentine exclaimed, then looked at Hayato. "What's that thing called? Tell me quickly!"

“This is called the Millennium Key. It’s mine, hmm.” Since Shady said he had given it to him, that meant he now owned the Millennium Key. Hayato believed there was nothing wrong with that statement. “Exer O’Brien has accepted his punishment. So you’re next, Fanny Valentine.”

"It possesses the ability to open and manipulate minds. In theory, it can twist a person's heart into various shapes like a jigsaw puzzle, thereby altering their spirit and thoughts. However, even though I have encountered many Millennium Artifacts, this is my first time using the Millennium Key, and I cannot predict what will happen to you next."

Holding the Millennium Key straight up and pointing it at Fanny Valentine, Hayato approached him and said, "Relax. It might hurt at first, but it will hurt even more afterward. This is your punishment for stealing Nefertari's jewelry, you ignorant and fearless thief."

As Hayato approached him unsuspectingly, Fanny Valentine's desire swelled as he stared intently at the Millennium Key, unable to look away.

Want it, really want it! Just listening to Hayato's description, Fanny Valentine felt that compared to the "Millennium Key," Princess Nefertari's jewelry from three thousand years ago was nothing at all. Antique jewelry may be worth a fortune, but its greatest use is merely to add a little to one's own capital.

But the Millennium Key is different. It possesses supernatural powers. If Fanny Valentine obtains it, he might become an absolute leader who manipulates people's hearts, or even become the President of the United States with 91% approval rating. He has that kind of confidence!

"I feel it, Hayato Kobayashi. I feel the deep attraction of that Millennium Key to me. That kind of magical item is not something a brat like you can possess. It should be used by me."

Fanny Valentine spoke up and suddenly moved, his bulky body surprisingly agile as he easily snatched the Millennium Key from Hayato's hand and held it in his own.

The light on the Millennium Key paused for a moment before surging, as if it were truly happy to have fallen into Fanny Valentine's hands!

"As expected, the power surged up! The Millennium Key likes me, Fanny Valentine!"

Under the power of the Millennium Key, a glowing "Eye of Ugato" mark appeared on Fanny Valentine's forehead, and his obese body rapidly slimmed down, transforming him into a handsome man with a golden ratio physique in the blink of an eye!

Chapter 837 Aren't idiots human? Idiots deserve to be laughed at!

Holding the [Millennium Key], Fanny Valentine felt his spirit undergo an endless sublimation, and his power surged forth. Even his originally bloated figure slimmed down in a very short time.

"Oh no! The Millennium Key has been stolen! This is terrible!"