Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

After struggling several times without being able to shake off the other person, the first person, though still angry, had calmed down somewhat and said to the second person, "I understand. I won't act impulsively anymore. Let me go."

Upon hearing this, the second person released his grip and let go of the other person. From these words, the seahorse also realized that the two similarly dressed guys were indeed in cahoots and knew each other.

"Our previous duel was merely a matter of personal grudge, but now that I've already lost once, I won't be talking about morality anymore, Seto Kaiba." The shorter man said, lifting his hood to reveal a face that would be unrecognizable in a crowd. "I challenge you to a rematch, Seto Kaiba!"

"Hmph, boring. I won't repeat myself. I have no reason to accept a loser's challenge." Kaiba said disdainfully to the first person, but he was somewhat concerned about the other person who had been silent since he appeared.

He had already assessed the former's level; he was just a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck. However, Kaiba's intuition as a duelist reminded him that the person and his companion seemed to be on completely different levels, and he needed to be a little wary.

Hearing Kaiba's words, the man sneered, "I didn't ask for your consent. You can refuse a normal duel, but what you're about to face is a Dark Game! And it won't be one-on-one anymore, it'll be two against one!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, he suddenly pulled a card from his pocket, held it above his head, and shouted, "It's all for that sir!"

In an instant, black energy emanated from the card in his hand and expanded rapidly outwards, enveloping him and the other two before the seahorse could even react.

Within the suddenly unfolding Dark Game barrier, the person who created the barrier, after confirming that there would be no more witnesses, said smugly, "Hmph, very good, now you can't escape, Seto Kaiba."

"Although you were never our target to begin with, you've gotten too close to that person. To prevent you from getting in our way, we'll eliminate you right here, and even the traces of your soul will be crushed in this dark game!"

"There's no need to talk about chivalry with Seto Kaiba. There's only one person on the other side, so we'll fight side by side!"

As he said this, the short man unfolded his Duel Disk, ready to duel Kaiba again, while Kaiba frowned and took out the deck he had just put away.

Although he said that he would not remember those he had defeated once, it did not mean that he would underestimate the so-called "dark game" initiated by the short man. After all, it was two against one, and the other person gave him a rather dangerous feeling.

Despite his caution, Kaiba remained confident he would win again, after all, he had declared he would never lose again before defeating Hayato and Yugi. His frown and worry stemmed from the fact that a two-on-one situation would definitely take a lot of time, and he worried that Keihei might cry if he couldn't find him.

The taller man seemed about to raise his duel disk, but he suddenly stopped, looked at an area shrouded in darkness, and spoke for the first time: "No, not two against one. It's two against two."

"Heh heh, such keen senses! You actually noticed me? You noticed my arrival, Hayato Kobayashi?"

The sound made Kaiba turn around and look. Suddenly, a golden light shone in the darkness, and Hayato's figure appeared before the three of them. The Millennium Wisdom Ring on his chest was shining.

"Kobayashi Hayato!?"

"Kobayashi Hayato?!"

"Xiaolin, Hayato..."

Hayato glanced at the two people opposite him. He didn't recognize the shorter one, nor could he identify the taller one. Furthermore, neither of them had any conspicuous markings that could identify them. Not knowing anything about the other party, he looked at Kaiba and said, "Yo, Kaiba, you really have a lot of bad luck. Someone's got their eye on you again?"

"If I could, I wouldn't want to get entangled in such boring duels. Duelists like you or Yugi Muto would be more appealing to me."

Hearing Kaiba's words, Hayato retorted, "I never thought that Yugi and I would one day be able to stand alongside [Blue-Eyes] in your heart. After all, you only ever get excited about [Blue-Eyes], don't you?"

"Hmph, enough nonsense. If you're just here to watch the show, then you can leave. I don't have the inclination to act as a performer on stage for people's amusement." Rolling his eyes at Hayato, Kaiba turned back to look at the other side, inserted his deck into the Duel Disk, and let the Duel Disk automatically shuffle it.

At that moment, the shorter one on the other side spoke up again, "No, you're not allowed to leave, Hayato Kobayashi!"

"I only intended to take down Seto Kaiba, but I never expected to run into you, Hayato Kobayashi. Compared to Seto Kaiba, you are our true target, someone we must eliminate for the sake of that person." With a sinister grin, the man raised his Duel Disk. "When you reach Hell, give them my name!"

"Duel!"

"You—!" Seemingly stunned by the man's imposing manner, Hayato raised an eyebrow, pointed at him, and remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, he turned to look at Kaiba and asked, "What's this guy's name?"

"You're really going to write down the name of such a nobody?" Kaiba glanced at Hayato, unusually offering a sarcastic remark. After a moment's thought, Kaiba said, "That guy did seem to give his name, but I have no interest in writing it down. I think it was something like 'Four Arithmetic Operations'..."

"It's Misawa, Hiroya Misawa!" the shorter one—Hiroya Misawa—said angrily. "How disrespectful! Seto Kaiba, I'm going to kill you, kill your teeth!"

"If you get this angry just because your name is called wrong, then what about Keihei? He'll probably kill himself from anger!" Hayato had a vague recollection of the name "Mizawa," but he also remembered that it seemed to be the name of a small town. Was there really someone named Misawa?

If I don't remember, then I don't have it, um.

"So, if you're going to play a dark game, it's only natural to state your name, right?" Hayato said, taking out his deck and inserting it into his Duel Disk. He stood next to Kaiba and looked at the person opposite him who was about the same height as him.

Upon hearing Hayato's words, the person did not react. He simply placed his hand on the deck that had been shuffled and inserted into the Duel Disk, seemingly preparing to draw a card, and did not intend to answer Hayato.

"Not planning to answer..." Hayato was slightly concerned about that person, not for any other reason than a subtle intuition, though he didn't know why. But it didn't matter; playing cards could solve everything.

"Okay, let's play cards this time. One of the opposing players is a dragon focused on Kaiba, relentlessly using counter cards. The other player doesn't know anything about the game, and our teammate is a complete idiot who only knows how to attack relentlessly."

Ignoring Kaiba's death stare, Hayato continued, "But it's okay, the deck we're playing this time has strong adaptability to deal with all situations!"

"Duel!" x2

“Duel…”

Kaiba, Hayato, and the mysterious man shouted in unison, and the three of them drew five cards together. Then came the much-anticipated card-drawing and card-grabbing contest.

Although Hiroshi Misawa was also cunning enough to draw five cards early and wait for Hayato and the others to draw their cards so that he could take the first turn, what he didn't expect was that at the same time Hayato drew five cards from his deck, the top card of his deck was actually bounced out by the Duel Disk!

"Oh, oh, oh, this is the bond between the decks, the deck's response to me!"

Although Hayato said this, Kaiba immediately saw through the truth: "The automatic retrieval system designed by Keihei actually has such a use!? It can definitely be put to good use next time."

"Damn it, why are you all so rich!" Hiroya Misawa said with a hint of sourness, using a Duel Disk that was merely a standard version mass-produced by the Kaiba Group without any additional functions.

Regardless, Hayato secured the first strike.

[Hayato Kobayashi: 4000LP, 6 cards in hand]

[Hiroya Misawa: 4000LP, 5 card in hand]

Seto Kaiba: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand

[?: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"My turn, draw a card, though I've already drawn it." Hayato glanced at the card in his hand, his face full of righteous indignation. "A king's duel must be entertaining. Unlike you guys who try to hurt others with Duel Monsters, I'm going to use Duel Monsters to bring smiles to everyone!"

"Five cards face down, my turn is over!"

He said he wanted to bring smiles to people, but Hayato's incredibly skillful maneuver of filling the backcourt with face-down cards in one go proved that he was clearly trying to bring "screams".

“Five blocks in the backcourt, please enlighten me.” Hayato said with a pleased expression as he looked at Hiroya Misawa, whose expression had frozen.

Chapter 878, "The Pitfall," is an important part of the Duel Monsters experience and should not be missed.

"My turn..." Misawa Hiroya glanced at Hayato's five face-down cards on the field, then drew a card and complained, "Draw. Tch, it's not a card to destroy the back row. With so many face-down cards, how are others supposed to play Duel Monsters?"

"The heavy pit is an important part of the Duel Monsters experience; if you don't like it, don't play."

Hearing Hayato's words, Hiroya Misawa gritted his teeth: "That's exactly what I know about you, Hayato Kobayashi. Only you would think that way, to be so shameless as to say such a thing."

"Fine, the trap's already there and it'll trigger sooner or later anyway, I'll just use this card to test it out." As he spoke, Hiroya Misawa played a card, "I Normal Summon [Ushi-no-Oni]."

As the card was placed on the Duel Disk, a black-bodied monster with a minotaur's head and a large hammer appeared on Hiroya Misawa's field, resembling a member of the legendary underworld duo "Ox-Head and Horse-Face".

In terms of appearance, it actually looks the same as the ordinary bone [Minotaur] that often appeared in Kaiba's early decks, except for the difference in skin color and weapon.

【Bullhead Demon】【4☆/Land】

[Undead/Effect]

[1700/800]

After summoning [Bullhead], seeing that the appearance of [Bullhead] with an attack power of 1500 or more did not trigger Hayato's back row traps, Misawa Hiroya tentatively assumed that there were no summoning traps among Hayato's five back row cards, and continued: "Use the effect of [Bullhead] during the Main Phase to send one Zombie-Type monster from my Deck to the Graveyard once per turn."

"I will send this [Horse-Headed Ghost] to the cemetery."

“【Goblin Demon】pile on 【Horse Demon】, it’s a classic combo if you don’t die.” Hayato raised an eyebrow, watching Misawa Hiroya about to send the card to the graveyard, but then said, “I was thinking of using this card to send Kaiba’s 【Blue Eyes】to another dimension to defend against 【Destroyer Swordsman】.”

"Although banishing only one card is a bit of a loss, a card is meaningless if you don't use it when it's meant to be used." Hayato declared as he pressed the button to activate the face-down card, "Activate the Normal Trap Card, [Dimensional Arena], banish monster cards sent to the Graveyard this turn instead of going to the Graveyard!"

"What?!" Before Hiroya Misawa could even put the [Horse-Headed Demon] into the graveyard, the entire graveyard area of ​​the four-player duel disk suddenly lit up. The [Horse-Headed Demon] he sent to the graveyard was intercepted and forcibly excluded before it even entered the graveyard.

"Why would anyone carry such a strange card?!"

Upon hearing this, Hayato said smugly, "Don't ask, it's just the deep bond between me and the card, Gosawa Sky."

"It's Hiroya Misawa!"

Compared to Hiroya Misawa, Kaiba noticed something: "Normal Trap? Why are you emphasizing this, Hayato? In a normal duel, isn't it usually just called a 'Trap Card'?"

“Yes, why is that?” Hayato flipped over his only card. “It’s because this monster in my hand has a special affinity with normal traps.”

"I can activate this if a Trap Card is activated. I Special Summon [Silver Castle Statue] by its own effect!" Hayato placed the monster card in his hand horizontally on the Duel Disk. A winged demon statue, clad in armor, landed on Hayato's field, its giant sword embedded in the ground and its hand supporting it.

Hayato said smugly, "This time, we're playing a pure Silver Castle deck!"

The deck Hayato spent a lot of money to finally complete last time was this [Silver City] deck. Although its official name is actually [Rabiris], just like the [Eldridge] deck is called [Golden Country] and the [Resonator] deck is called Tamashii deck, those who care about the original name are ⑨.

Since they've already drawn the cards, how could anyone resist playing the new deck?

"【Silver Castle】?" Not only the two people opposite him, but even Kaiba had never heard of such a deck before. However, Kaiba was already used to Hayato always pulling out some strange cards. "A chain trap card that can Special Summon monsters from the hand, that's really your style."

【The Demon Statue of Silver Castle】【7☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[2000/2800]

"A level 7☆ monster with 2000 ATK and 2800 DEF, summoned so easily!?" Hiroya Misawa said, somewhat annoyed. "And during my turn no less?"

"It's not over yet! When [Silver Castle Statue] is Special Summoned, activate its effect: Set one more Normal Trap Card from my Deck that can only be activated upon declaring an attack, and [Silver Castle Statue]'s ATK increases by 400 times the number of Normal Trap Cards in my Graveyard!"

The single eye peeking out from the gap in the giant demon statue's helmet lit up, and another card appeared out of thin air to fill the empty space in Hayato's back field, turning Hayato's field layout into a "T" shape.

[The Demon Statue of Silver Castle] [2000/2800→2400/2800]

"This is supposed to be my turn, yet I can still place face-down cards. Also, that monster has way too many effects, there are three of them!" Hiroya Misawa said with a displeased expression. "But face-down cards that can only be activated upon an attack declaration are useless now, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

In this 2v2 duel, the turn order was Hayato → Hiroya Misawa → Kaiba → Mysterious Man → Hayato. The first three could not attack during their turns. It wasn't until the turn of the mysterious man, whose name was still unknown to Kaiba, that he could enter the battle phase. This meant that the card Hayato had just set face down had not been used until then.

Even so, there are still four unknown face-down cards lurking in Hayato's back row.

Looking at the cards in his hand, Hiroya Misawa played a card: "My turn continues. I activate the Spell Card [Proof of Dragon Destruction] from my hand and add one [Dragon Destruction Swordsman] from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand."

"Then comes this [Tribute Doll]. Tribute my [Minotaur] as a sacrifice to Special Summon a Level 7 monster from my hand—that is, the [Destroyer Swordsman] that was just added to my hand! Come forth, [Destroyer Swordsman]!"

Hiroya Misawa's idea was simple—although he couldn't deal with Hayato Kobayashi's face-down cards for the time being, this duel was a doubles match, so he could just leave the problems he couldn't solve to his teammate. He hadn't had time to modify his deck before, which resulted in a lot of cards that were effective against Seto Kaiba. Now he might as well go all the way and focus on dealing with Seto Kaiba.

Although he had only failed once before in dealing with Seto Kaiba, who mainly consists of dragon-type monsters, this does not mean that the "Destruction Swordsman" is no longer effective. This monster is still Misawa Hiroya's first choice for countering Seto Kaiba.

However, looking at Hiroya Misawa's actions, Kaiba frowned and said, "Isn't this exactly the same as your actions in the last duel, except that you replaced [Gluttonous Dragon] with [Bullhead Demon]? Hmph, you only have one or two moves over and over again, boring trash."

"Kaiba, you don't seem to have the right to criticize others. You always start with the same 'high-star' cards, don't you?" Hayato complained, glancing at [Destroyer Swordsman] without activating any backrow cards. He casually remarked, "Then, because of the effect of [Dimensional Arena], [Goblin], which was sent to the Graveyard, will also be banished and go to live with [Horse-Headed Demon]."

“That’s not how you use that word,” Hiroya Misawa said, frowning. “The Destroyer Swordsman Special Summoned by the effect of [Sacrifice Doll] cannot attack this turn, but I don’t have a Battle Phase anyway, so this negative effect is practically nonexistent.”

"I'll face down both cards, my turn is over—"

He took two cards from his hand and set them face down, but just then, Misawa Hiroya heard Hayato interrupt him: "Then, at this very moment, activate the Continuous Trap Card [Heart Pot], targeting the two face-down Spell/Trap Cards on the field. As long as this card is on the field, the targeted Spell/Trap Cards cannot be activated."

As Hayato uncovered another card in his back row, an ancient-looking jar was revealed. The open spout emitted an attractive force, drawing in the two cards that had just appeared in Misawa Hiroya's back row. Then, the spout of the [Heart-Suppressing Jar] was weighed down by a heavy object and sealed with rope.

"Alright, it's your turn to play Duel Monsters," Hayato said with a smile, looking at Hiroya Misawa, whose facial expression was rather distorted. According to the law of conservation of smiles, a person's happiness is constant; when one person's smile disappears, that happiness often transfers to another person's face, just like Hayato and Hiroya Misawa are doing now.