Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Powerful cards often come with huge risks." X2

As Hayato's voice rang out, he was surprised to hear Marufuji Ryo say the same thing as him.

"The negative effect of [Power Bond] is that during the end phase of the turn this card is activated, while the [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] summoned by this card is on the field, I will take damage equal to its original ATK of 2800."

First, he mentioned the "risks" of the [Power Combination], then Ryo Marufuji paused and looked at Hayato, saying, "From the beginning of the duel, I had a feeling that you seemed to know me very well, not only my deck, but even my personal principles in the duel."

"Although you tried to guide me throughout the duel, making me believe that it was my initial insistence that led to my being restricted and constrained in subsequent rounds, and even resorting to underhanded tactics like the 'Final Warrior of the Alien,' it was useless. Your clear dueling spirit could not be hidden at all."

"Your methods are despicable, but your will is remarkably clear. Who exactly are you? I've been pondering this question for a while now, and after you uttered those words, I feel I have the answer." Marufuji Ryo said, pointing at Hayato, "That phrase is the catchphrase of the Duel King, Kobayashi Hayato. I remember him saying it when he defeated our former 'Cyber ​​Stream' instructor, and it left a very deep impression on me!"

"No matter how slim the possibility, after eliminating all other answers, there is only one truth!"

Amid Hayato's bewildered and surprised gaze, Marufuji Ryo asserted, "You must be a fan of the Duel King, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Pfft—! Cough cough cough cough..." Jonouchi, who was watching the duel from a short distance away, spat out the orange juice in his mouth and choked. Looking at the confident Marufuji Ryo, he muttered to himself, "How did he come to such an answer? It seems right, but it's completely wrong!"

Seeing that Hayato was also somewhat unable to understand how his opponent had come to such an answer, Ryo Marufuji waved his hand and said, "Your answer is silence, Rito Dan? Whatever, I won this duel. Be defeated by me in front of the [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon]!"

"Entering the battle phase, I will then use [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] to attack your [Alien Final Warrior] in Attack Position on the field, Double Evolution Flame!"

[Electronic Dual-Headed Dragon] [ATK5600]

Alien's Last Warrior [ATK1175]

While possessing powerful summoning and sealing abilities, it's only natural that the [Alien Final Warrior] doesn't have particularly strong stats. After all, the fusion materials he uses are just average-level weak monsters, not to mention that his attack power has been halved by the [Forbidden Drop] card that Marufuji Ryo previously drew and used.

This means that Hayato will suffer a staggering 4425 points of combat damage, and even his current base score of 4000 points will be instantly wiped out!

As the two heads of the [Electronic Two-Headed Dragon] opened their mouths, revealing laser emitters, Hayato waved his hand and said, "In that case, I have no choice but to bring out my secret weapon. Tremble before my divine talent!"

"Chain attack declaration, I open the backcourt face card!"

Upon hearing Hayato's words, the chosen targets, "Alien Warrior" and Ryo Marufuji, also looked towards Hayato's back row, wanting to see what the "secret weapon" he had set down was. However, when they saw the opened Quick-Play Spell Card, both Ryo Marufuji and "Alien Warrior" froze.

"You still say you're not a fan of Hayato Kobayashi?"

Marufuji Ryo felt an urge to point at the open "mysterious Chinese pot" and question "Danrito".

As we all know, most duelists leave an impression on people after they become famous based on their own dueling style. For example, Yugi Muto is good at using monsters and spell cards that work well together, Seto Kaiba always includes Blue-Eyes in his deck even if other cards are not included, and Joey Wheeler always carries dice and coins.

However, when it comes to the Duel King Hayato Kobayashi, compared to his invincible "Three Egyptian God Cards" and versatile deck, people tend to think more about cards like "Summoning Exophysis" and "Mysterious Chinese Pot." And right now, this guy named "Dan Rito" is using the "Mysterious Chinese Pot," which can almost be considered Hayato Kobayashi's signature card!

"Anyway, you've already negated the effect of [Alien's Last Warrior], and its attack power hasn't even been halved, turning it into a weak monster with less than 1500 points. Rather than letting you destroy it for nothing, I'd rather fry it up and eat it." Hayato said, waving his hand. "Based on the effect of [Mysterious Chinese Pot], I'm releasing [Alien's Last Warrior] on my field, restoring its defense value to its Life Points."

"Go to the cemetery, [the final warrior of the aliens], this is a necessary sacrifice!"

'It's completely unnecessary! You have [Summoner - Aleister], which can increase the attack power of fusion monsters, right? Help! Why are you just standing by and watching?!'

If the Alien Warrior had awakened his spirit, he might have said that, but he didn't. Therefore, before the Cyber ​​Dragon's attack could land, an iron ladle fell from the sky, scooped up the Alien Warrior, and shoveled him into a suddenly appearing iron pot for a stir-fry, after which Hayato's base score increased.

["Tanli Dou": 4000→6300LP]

Although Alien's Final Warrior is a monster with higher ATK than DEF, the Life Points restored by Mysterious Chinese Pot are determined when it is on the field. After the effect of Forbidden Drop, Alien's Final Warrior's ATK becomes half of its original value, which is less than its unchanged DEF. Therefore, Hayato chose to restore its DEF value.

Watching "Dan Rito" send his monster to the graveyard, Marufuji Ryo frowned: "For the sake of victory, you actually sent your own monster to the graveyard. In your eyes, is victory more important than the duel itself?"

“However, because the disappearance of the target triggered a battle rewind, I can retarget [Cyber ​​Dragon]. I choose your [Summon - Caligula] as the target.” Ryo Marufuji waved his hand again and gave the order, “One more time, [Cyber ​​Dragon], Double Evolution Flame!”

Having already prepared to attack, the [Electronic Twin-Headed Dragon] didn't need to charge up much before quickly unleashing its attack. Two laser beams instantly struck [Summoned Beast - Caligula]. However, because it was in defense position, although the attack created a considerable gust of air while annihilating Caligula, it failed to cause any damage to Danrito.

"It's not over yet. The effect of [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] is that it can attack twice per turn. This effect is not limited to monsters, which means that after [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] destroys the last monster on Danrito's field, it can still attack you, the duelist, once again."

"Dual Evolution Flame: Duet!"

The second burst of brilliance landed directly on Hayato, but the direct attack from the [Electronic Twin-Headed Dragon], which had an attack power of 5600 points and should have been fatal, was successfully blocked by Hayato, who had used the [Mysterious Chinese Pot] to blast in 2300 points beforehand.

【"Dan Kuroto": 6300→700LP】

"Wow, not bad. My base score is almost gone." Even with only a few digits left in base score, Marufuji Ryo couldn't see even a trace of panic on the man's face. Under his mocking gaze, Marufuji Ryo, having exhausted all his methods, helplessly declared, "My turn is over."

"Then, due to the effect of [Power Combination], my base score took 2800 points of damage."

[Ryo Marufuji: 4000→1200LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Electronic Dual-Headed Dragon] [ATK5600]

Four rounds of the duel had already passed. Jonouchi noticed that, without him noticing, some people who were interested in Duel Monsters had been drawn to the duel and gathered nearby to watch. He even spotted Yugi and his group, who seemed to have finished breakfast. He beckoned over and informed Yugi and his group of their current situation.

“My brother-in-law has been really busy since he came to Egypt.” After shaking off the fan who mistook him for Pegasus, Malik looked at Hayato in the duel and said with a smile, “I’ve watched about half of the duel. That kid has some talent, but not much, and he has a strange kind of persistence. He definitely can’t beat my brother-in-law.”

“That’s not quite true, Malik boy~” Pegasus looked at Marufuji Ryo with great interest. “After all, he’s just a child. He has a lot of room to grow in the future. Maybe one day he can become an excellent duelist.”

He paused, then glanced at Hayato: "But challenging Hayato-boy is still too early."

When it was Hayato's turn, he calmly drew a card: "My turn, draw."

Without even looking down to see what card he had drawn, he looked at Marufuji Ryo and said, "It was quite a fun duel with you, but unfortunately, it's time to clear this game. In the name of God, I command you to step down!"

"Normal Summon [Summoner - Aleister], effect searches for [Summoning Magic]."

Listening to the relaxed, even cheerful, unfolding steps of "Dan Rito," which sounded almost like he was about to sing, Marufuji Ryo also tensed up:

"Is it coming again? A [Summoning Magic] that can fuse monsters from the Graveyard. I remember he emphasized before that the fusion materials for [Summoned Beast - Caligula] are [Summoner - Aleister] and a DARK monster. So, can we guess that different attributes can summon different [Summoned Beasts]?"

"The opponent's graveyard contains three monsters: DARK [Summoned Beast - Caligula], EARTH [Alien's Last Warrior], and WATER [Magic Absorb Sphere]. No, I remember Dan Rito saying earlier that the opponent's graveyard can also be used by [Summoning Magic], which means my LIGHT [Cyber ​​Dragon] could very well be chosen as a Fusion Material Monster by the opponent."

'With four attributes—Dark, Water, Light, and Earth—corresponding to four possibilities, what kind of monster will appear? However, I have a [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] on my field with a whopping 5600 ATK; I should be able to withstand whatever monster it is.'

However, after witnessing "Danrito" retrieve the [Summoning Magic] card from his deck into his hand, Marufuji Ryo saw that his opponent didn't play the card but instead discarded it to the graveyard and activated another card in his hand: "I'll discard the [Summoning Magic] card from my hand as my cost, and show you what lies at the end of fusion! I activate this ultimate fusion, [Super Fusion]!"

"Send the Fusion Materials needed to summon a Fusion Monster from both players' fields to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from the Fusion Deck!"

Upon hearing this, Ryo Marufuji's eyes widened in surprise: "Using the monsters on my field as fusion material? Oh no, [Cyber ​​Dragon]!"

However, his cries were too weak in the face of the power of [Super Polymerization]. Not to mention that he had no means of countering to protect his monster, even if he did, it would be useless against the pseudo-fast four-speed [Super Polymerization], which could not chain cards.

"The fusion materials are [Summoner - Aleister] and the Fusion Monster [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] on your opponent's field. O mystical user named after a great beast, go berserk under the forbidden magic of summoning!" Hayato played a card, "Fusion Summon! [Summoned Beast - Light]!"

"Then enter the battle phase and directly attack the opponent duelist who has no enemies on the field!"

Ryo Marufuji didn't even have time to see the specific stats of the monster Hayato summoned. He only saw his [Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon] being shoved into the body of [Summoner-Aleister] by the power of [Hyperfusion]. The latter, who was of normal human size, suddenly mutated and swelled into a gigantic form, rising into the air like a god and crashing down with an attack in his direction.

His own base score was wiped out in an instant by this attack.

[Ryo Marufuji: 1200LP → 0]

Chapter 858 If his true identity is revealed, Dan Rito's dueling career will be over.

"I... lost..." Looking at his life points reaching zero, although he already knew the final outcome of the duel from the moment [Hyperfusion] appeared, Ryo Marufuji still lowered his head somewhat dejectedly.

No matter how powerful Marufuji Ryo becomes in the future, it has nothing to do with the current Marufuji Ryo. In the end, he is still just a twelve-year-old child.

Losing the duel was one thing, after all, Ryo Marufuji had lost quite a few times while studying at the "Electronic Flow" dojo, and he had always considered himself not someone who only pursued victory or defeat. However, in this duel, Ryo Marufuji was unable to even exert his full strength.

From the start of the duel, he was constantly restricted by "Alien's Final Warrior". Not to mention he couldn't summon his signature card and ace from the "Cyber ​​Stream" deck, "Cyber ​​Ender Dragon", he could only barely summon "Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon" at the last moment, and it even became the opponent's fusion material in the end.

This is inconsistent with Marufuji Ryo's requirement of "respecting duels," and he failed to unleash the full power of his deck in the duel, which is a huge lapse in composure.

Hayato put away his Duel Disk and approached Ryo Marufuji: "Hmph, the famous 'Cyber ​​Stream' is nothing special. It's no match for me, with my godlike talent. And what 'respect for duels'? So weak!"

However, looking at "Dan Rito" standing in front of him, Marufuji Ryo, who had been deep in thought, remained silent for a moment before calmly saying, "I did lose this duel, but even if I hadn't lost, I would no longer have needed to take back that [Cyber ​​Dragon] from you."

"Huh?" Hayato was also taken aback upon hearing this.

"Although I don't know what method you used, there were just too many flaws, especially that last [Super Polymerization] card. I saw it before in your duel with Ms. Isis in Duel City." Marufuji Ryo lowered his voice so that the onlookers wouldn't hear it. "It's not surprising that you have a [Cyber ​​Dragon] card in your hand, Dan Rito, no, Mr. Kobayashi Hayato."

Tsk, how could I have forgotten about that?

Hayato then realized that although he had tried his best to use cards that he didn't usually use in public to hide his identity, and even though Rainbow Kuriboh was already in his hand, he hadn't used it, so why was his identity exposed by Hyper Polymerization?

Since Marufuji had already said all that, Hayato reluctantly dropped some of his pretense and looked at him, saying, "A clever kid like that isn't popular."

Although he had already guessed Hayato's identity, Ryo Marufuji couldn't help but show a surprised expression when he saw Hayato release the power of the Millennium Scepter and reveal his true face: "It really is you, Mr. Hayato!"

"Shh~ Keep your voice down so no one else can hear," Hayato said, glancing at the spectators who had been drawn by the previous duel. As the duel ended, most of these passersby applauded and then went their separate ways.

After all, in their eyes, this duel was just a friendly match between two unfamiliar, nameless duelists, not a duel between any big shots, and it wasn't particularly exciting. They just watched it and moved on.

However, the pace of the crowd's departure varied, and quite a few people remained in the vicinity. If Marufuji Ryo's voice were too loud and they knew he was there, it would be far more troublesome than the situation where Baron was mistaken for Jonouchi.

Hayato glanced at Jonouchi and Yugi standing together, pointed in that direction, and said to Marufuji Ryo, "If you have anything to say, go over there and say it."

After leaving the duel arena and arriving at the inconspicuous spot where Yugi and the others were, Ryo Marufuji, who was following behind Hayato, hesitated for a moment before asking Hayato, "Mr. Hayato, if it is presumptuous of me, I would like to ask you, what are your thoughts on the duel just now?"

"That duel just now?" Hayato smiled when he heard Marufuji Ryo's words, but did not answer him directly. "No one else can give you the answer to that. Instead of asking me, you should try to find the answer yourself."

Hayato was certainly aware of the problems that occurred during Marufuji's duel. Putting aside the fact that he noticed Hayato's unusual behavior when he tried to take the first move at the start of the duel but still let Hayato go first, it was also problematic that he didn't use the cards in his hand that could counter "Alien Warrior" in order to "respect his opponent" and "respect the duel."

Of course, I'm not talking about "Forbidden Drop". Hayato is referring to "Fusion Release", which was sent to the graveyard by Ryo Marufuji as the cost of "Forbidden Drop". You should know that the card can never be used on your own monsters. It can also be used on your opponent's Fusion Monsters.

Marufuji Ryo drew [Forbidden Drop] on his second turn. From this, we can deduce that his six cards at the start of his first turn were [Primal Cyber ​​Dragon], [Cyber ​​Dragon], [Power Bond], [Power Wall], [Fusion Deactivation], and the useless [Explosive Armor].

With this setup, you could easily break through the "Alien's Final Warrior" in the first round with "Fusion Release," which has a powerful lockdown effect but no resistance whatsoever. Then, you could summon "Cyber ​​Twin-Headed Dragon" to destroy the back-side defense position of that scumbag Aleister (Aleister: Hey!), and then directly attack Hayato to win.

However, in order to "respect the opponent," Ryo Marufuji never considered the possibility of "using [Fusion Release] on the opponent's monster."

Everyone has their own principles in duels. For example, there's John and Rafael who treat monsters like family, Kaiba who will summon the Blue-Eyes monster no matter what if he draws it, and Hayato who feels uncomfortable if he doesn't release a monster after a duel...

Oh, the last one doesn't count. Was it to liberate the monster? That was a necessary sacrifice.

However, such persistence is not a big deal if it only adds a little trouble to the duel; but if it leads to a loss, then it becomes extremely fatal. After all, the essence of dueling is a derivative of the ancient dueling ritual, something where one cannot survive without victory.

Not only in the present, but also in the future as Hayato knows it, Marufuji Ryo maintained a mindset of "respecting the duel," "respecting the opponent," and "respecting the deck" for a long time afterward, and this persistence was even greater than his thirst for victory.

But if you don't choose to pursue victory, what reason will victory have to come to you?

Ryo Marufuji only realized this truth after graduating and entering society, experiencing several setbacks and falling into a hellish situation, during a life-threatening underground duel. This made him realize that he had always had a desire for victory, which allowed him to transform and grow into a duelist truly worthy of the name "Caesar"—Hell Caesar.

Therefore, Hayato did not expect that this duel would make Marufuji Ryo realize this point. The reason for provoking this duel was just to give Marufuji Ryo a heads-up.

After all, the price that Ryo Marufuji paid for growing from the academic "Kaiser" Ryo to "Hell Kaiser" was that he overused the artificial Dark Game's impact amplification device in underground duels, which laid the groundwork for his heart disease caused by Dark Game in later duels. The genius duelist Ryo Marufuji had to put down his Duel Disk before he even came of age, which Hayato found quite regrettable.

After all, he was a kind-hearted man, and there was no duelist in the world more compassionate than him. It would be best if Marufuji Ryo realized this before entering the underground dueling arena.

"I'll find the answer myself?" Upon hearing Hayato's reply, Marufuji Ryo felt a surge of confidence. Although his intuition told him that Hayato definitely knew how to improve, he couldn't force him to say it, so he could only nod to indicate that he understood. However, he remained completely oblivious to what Hayato was trying to make him realize.

Putting aside the fact that Marufuji Ryo is only 12 years old and has only graduated from "Electronic Flow" three years ago, the concept of "respecting duels" that he has learned is deeply rooted in his mind. Hayato's duel is simply not enough to shake it.

After realizing Hayato's identity, Ryo Marufuji could no longer associate this duel with ideals or anything like that. After all, his opponent was the Duel King. Even if his opponent didn't go all out, he was still no match for Hayato. If it were his teacher, the result would be the same. Ryo Marufuji also knew about Hayato obtaining the secret card from Samejima.

This is one of the reasons why Hayato hid his identity at the beginning, but he didn't expect that Marufuji Ryo would discover it halfway through.

However, Ryo Marufuji didn't think about it for long, because when Hayato led him to a corner of the cafeteria that was not easily noticed, he suddenly realized something—as the Duel King standing at the top of Duel Monsters, Hayato Kobayashi's network of connections would naturally be quite impressive.

“‘Father of Duel Monsters’ Pegasus J. Crawford, the legendary duelist Yugi Muto, and Mr. Katsuya Jonouchi, whom Mr. Baron often talks about!” Ryo Marufuji was shocked, almost stunned. “I actually saw them alive!”