Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

It wasn't just the mysterious man's own [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain]; the [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] and [White Spirit Dragon] on Kaiba's field, as well as the [Demon Statue of Silver Castle] on Hayato's field, all underwent the same change, visibly decaying, rotting, and decaying. Even [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] only managed to resist this power for a moment, its metal body covered with a layer of rust.

"You bastard, what did you do to my [Blue Eyes]?!"

It was as if the seahorse had seen his beloved woman being bullied in front of him, and he was furious!

"The effect of the Field Spell Card 'Undying World' transforms all monsters on both players' fields and in their Graveyards into Zombie-Type monsters, and prohibits the Tribute Summoning of non-Zombie-Type monsters by either player," the mysterious man said calmly. "However, it's just a change of race, nothing more—"

"Nothing to worry about? Hmph, you have no idea what kind of bond I have with [Blue Eyes]."

"My turn, draw a card." The mysterious man drew a card by placing his finger on top of the deck, unmoved by Kaiba's words. "Bonds, huh? Call it whatever you want. Go ahead and try it. Let me see how your 'bonds' will respond to you."

"However, during my Standby Phase, because there are cards in the Field Zone, I Special Summon this monster from my Graveyard in Defense Position by its own effect. Come forth, [Dead King - Evil Eye]!"

During the mysterious man's preparation phase, he Special Summoned a previously unseen Zombie monster from his Graveyard. Kaiba didn't even ask when the card entered the Graveyard, so it's easy to guess that it was also thanks to Hayato's [Hellfire Machine Tierra].

[Necromancer King - Evil Eye] [8☆/Dark]

[Undead/Effect]

[2800/2000]

Looking at the opponent's five cards in hand, and the [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] with 3000 attack power on the field, as well as the [Dead King - Evil Eye] that had just appeared, Kaiba frowned for a moment: "The spell and trap cards in the graveyard have the ability to constantly draw more spell and trap cards from the deck, and monsters that can be constantly resurrected. If we can't take them down in one go, we'll only face a more intense counterattack."

Hayato glanced in Kaiba's direction: "We could have held on, but who do you think sent the opponent's cards to the graveyard and replenished their hand?"

"Are you trying to say I'm a burden, Hayato Kobayashi?" Kaiba glared at Hayato. "Weren't you the one who initially helped him send the cards to the graveyard? If it weren't for your [Inferno Tierra], where would that guy's graveyard have so many usable cards?"

Even though the duel with that mysterious person wasn't over yet, Kaiba and Hayato were glaring at each other, looking like they were about to start arguing.

The mysterious man glanced at the two of them, then took a card from his graveyard: "Activate the effect of 'Guardian of the Golden Country' in my graveyard, banish it, and then set a 'Golden Country Elixir of Immortality' Spell/Trap Card to the top of my deck."

"And the effects of the three cards [Conqueror of the Golden Land], [Red-Crimson Bloodstained Elixir of Immortality], and [Darkened Awakened Elixir of Immortality] allow me to set one [Emerald of Immortality] and two [Golden Land] Spell/Trap Cards from my deck."

"Then, I will activate the effect of [Golden Lord Eldridge] in my graveyard, sending one of my face-down Spell/Trap Cards to the graveyard and returning it to my hand."

Hayato glanced at the mysterious figure who had appeared while he and Kaiba were talking. Although he had completely confirmed the other party's true identity, it didn't stop him from pretending not to recognize him during the duel: "Heh heh, trying to revive from the graveyard? Last turn, Seth's Blue Eyes easily defeated that monster as if it were a leaf plucked from a roadside bush. And you're thinking of reviving from the graveyard to continue attacking us?"

"Although I really want to say come any closer, I haven't given you permission to summon any more monsters."

Hayato pulled a card from his hand, turned it over to show the mysterious man, and gently tapped the side of the card to awaken the timid girl inside. "To deal with you, it would be better to use this card, which is also from the Undead race."

"Discard [Yashiki-warashi] from my hand to activate her effect, and negate the activation of effects that add cards from your Graveyard to your hand!"

A card that had just been set face-down on the back row by the mysterious figure was sent to the graveyard. The Golden Lord Eldridge, who had just been blasted by Blue-Eyes White Dragon, tried to dig his way out of the graveyard, but as soon as he poked his face out of the ground, a silver-haired girl dressed in gothic clothing stepped on his head and pushed him back into the graveyard.

"Damn it, there are cards like this?" "Damn it, why did you reward him?"

For a moment, the mysterious man and Hayato watched as the [Yashiki-warashi] was about to suppress [Golden Lord Eldridge] back into the graveyard. They spoke at the same time in the same tone, which made Kaiba turn his head and give Hayato a deep look. After a moment, he said, "Although I have always thought you have no bottom line, I did not expect you to be this shameless."

"Huh? Does someone who secretly calls me 'wife' under the cover of night have the right to say such things to me?"

"Stop slandering me, you bastard!"

Ignoring Kaiba, who seemed agitated by Hayato's revelation of the truth, the mysterious man watched as his [Golden Lord - Eldridge] was about to be trampled across the face and sent back to the graveyard. After a moment's thought, he ordered, "You were forced into this state at the very beginning, but it doesn't change anything. I'll chain your [Yashiki-warashi] and activate the effect of [Necromancer King - Evil Eye]!"

"This effect can only be activated when an effect other than [Necromancer King - Evil Eye] is activated. You can choose one of the following two effects: 'Neglect that effect' or 'Ban 1 monster from each player's field or Graveyard.' [Necromancer King - Evil Eye] cannot have the same effect applied during a turn. I choose to negate the effect of [Yashiki-warashi]!"

"Muda muda muda, all your efforts to stop [Golden Lord Eldridge] are completely useless!"

As [Golden Lord - Eldridge] stepped on [Yashiki-warashi], he felt his body suddenly lighten. He looked down and found that it was [Dead King - Evil Eye] next to him who had grabbed him by the collar with the snake tail at the end of his body. He pulled out a piece of paper with "Effect Nullified" written on it from somewhere and stuck it on his forehead. Then, with a flick of his tail, he threw him back onto Hayato's field.

The [Yashiki-warashi] who had plopped down on the ground got up, straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes, glanced back at Hayato, shrugged with a helpless expression, and disappeared from his sight. Meanwhile, the [Golden Lord Eldridge] on the field of the mysterious person also had a regretful expression as he successfully crawled out of the graveyard and into his hand.

"Cannot be repeated, which means another effect can be used again? Combined with [Undead World], it can transform all monsters on both sides' fields and in the Graveyard into Zombie-type monsters." Kaiba frowned. "Tch, what a disgusting ability."

"Following the effect of [Golden Lord Eldridge], after it returns to my hand, I can Special Summon one Zombie monster from my hand, and that Zombie monster gains 1000 ATK and DEF until the end of my opponent's next turn, and cannot be destroyed by card effects."

The card [Golden Lord Eldridge], which had just returned to his hand, was played again by the mysterious man. The golden lich reappeared on his field, and this time he was surrounded by a flowing light, with gems shining all over his body, just like RGB lighting that could enhance performance, making it clear at a glance that he was very strong.

[Golden Secretary Eldridge] [2500/2800→3500/3800]

"Hmph, you've finally summoned a monster with a higher attack power than Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but it's only one. Who can it defeat?" Kaiba said arrogantly, arms crossed. "Whether it's Hayato Kobayashi's Blue-Eyes White Dragon or my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, you have no chance of winning with only one monster to your name."

Is this all you're capable of?

Upon hearing Kaiba's words, the mysterious man said nothing. In response, he played a spell card from his hand: "Spell Card [Fusion], use another [Golden Lord Aldridge] in my hand and the Level 8 Zombie monster [Giant Ghoul - Magella] as fusion materials."

"Materials required: [Eldridge] monster plus a Level 5 or higher Undead monster. Unleash your fury upon your enemies under the cursed gold!"

"Fusion Summon! [Golden Berserker - Aldridge]!"

As the power of [Fusion] manifested on the mysterious figure's field, a foot clad in golden heavy boots crushed a skeleton on the ground, and a majestic and imposing body emerged from the vortex of [Fusion].

The purple cloak behind [Golden Lord Eldridge] was now tattered, as if it had been through countless battles. His golden armor had been replaced with a thicker one that could withstand magic and combat, and the bull-horn-like demon horns on his head had become longer, sharper, and more ferocious.

[Golden Madman - Eldridge] [10☆/Light]

[Undead/Fusion/Effect]

[3800/3500]

Numerically, the attack and defense stats of [Golden Madman - Eldridge] are exactly opposite to those of [Golden Lord - Eldridge] who received the resurrection boost. Moreover, even without looking at the stats, it is clear from his appearance that he is more adept at offense than defense.

Hayato couldn't help but glance at Kaiba beside him: "Did you really have to say something?"

"Humph!"

After summoning [Golden Lord - Eldridge], the mysterious man still had two cards left in his hand. Glancing at the [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] on Kaiba's field, he declared, "[Golden Lord - Eldridge]'s effect: I will release [Dead King - Evil Eye] and activate its effect, targeting [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] on your field, Seto Kaiba. I will gain control of that monster!"

"What?!" Upon hearing the other party's blatant NTR declaration, Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "You actually want to take [Blue Eyes] away from me? Don't even think about it!"

"Open this face-down card and counter-trap [Straight Through]! When a monster's effect, Spell, or Trap Card in the same column as this card is activated, you can activate this face-down card, negate that activation, and destroy it!"

After saying that, Kaiba looked at the Mysterious Man's [Golden Madman - Eldridge] on the field and said, "You spent your hand to summon a monster, and you even dared to try and steal my [Blue Eyes]? Destroy it!"

The chain of explosions, which had been laid out in advance, was activated as the card was lifted. The golden energy that [Golden Madman - Aldrich] had been able to release before it could even leave his hand was interrupted by the sudden explosion at his feet. The explosion even engulfed [Golden Madman - Aldrich] as well.

However, there has always been a so-called "no harm from smoke" law. Before Haima's cold smile could even unfold, he saw that from the smoke and dust, [Golden Madman - Eldridge] was still standing on the field unharmed.

"It's a pity. The effect of [Straight Through] is to negate activation and destroy, but [Golden Madman - Aldrich] has resistance to being destroyed by battle or card effects. It would be better if it were a card that negates and destroys effects." Hayato said with a regretful look. "However, even though the activation is negated, the effect of [Golden Madman - Aldrich] can only be used once per turn, so you don't have to worry about your opponent using the effect again to destroy your [Blue-Eyes].

Hearing Hayato's words, Kaiba looked at him with some doubt, frowning as he asked, "Have you seen this monster before? How do you know so much about its effects?"

"Well, it's too complicated to explain." Hayato spread his hands and looked at the mysterious person who was changing the position of [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] on his field from defense to attack. "It seems like the opponent is about to attack."

"Change [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] to attack position, then enter the battle phase. I'm going to use [Golden Madman - Eldridge] to attack [The Demon Statue of the Silver Castle]." Instead of targeting Kaiba, who was surrounded by four powerful dragons, the mysterious figure locked onto Hayato's [Demon Statue of the Silver Castle], whose attack power was still 0. "This punch, 3800 points of damage, can you withstand it, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"

Chapter 885 The Death of Quinolos

"【Golden Madman - Aldridge】, attack the 【Demon Statue of Silver Castle】!"

Not only that, but at the very moment he declared his attack, the mysterious man drew a card from his hand: "It's not over yet, I'm going to activate this quick-play spell card from my hand, [Vagrant Shadow]!"

"When a monster declares an attack, it can only target one face-up monster on the field, increasing that monster's ATK by 1000 until the end of the Battle Phase!"

[Golden Madman - Eldridge] [ATK3800→4800]

When the attack power is still 3800 points, although the attack of [Golden Madman - Eldridge] is equally dangerous, Hayato can still retain 200 basic points and not be directly defeated. However, the attack of [Golden Madman - Eldridge] after combining the effect of [Vagrant Shadow] is enough to wipe out his basic points.

In this dark game, it's best not to let your base score drop, let alone go to zero. At this moment, the [Golden Madman - Eldridge] with an attack power of 4800 points is coming, determined to defeat Hayato in one fell swoop!

However---

"At this moment, I will activate the effect of this monster in my graveyard." Hayato suddenly drew a card from his graveyard. "During the Battle Phase, banish this [Dark Knight - Gaia Origin] from your graveyard. Target a monster on the field with an ATK that is different from its original ATK. That monster's ATK is restored to its original value!"

"Restore your glory, [Demonic Statue of Silver Castle]!"

Upon seeing the card in Hayato's hand, the mysterious man was somewhat surprised: "Is that card... also the card that [Hellfire Machine Tierra] sent to the graveyard?"

"Hmph, you're not the only one who piles cards into the graveyard to use them. In fact, Hayato Kobayashi is best at sending his own cards to the graveyard to use." Kaiba's lips curled up as he spoke arrogantly, his finger subtly moving away from the button that activated the face-down function.

Although he and Hayato had just seemed about to argue, seeing Hayato nearly in danger, Kaiba didn't hesitate to use his face-down card in the back row. However, Hayato was faster, and his card in the back row wasn't activated.

The phantom form of Gaia emerged from the card Hayato had just retrieved from the graveyard, its lance striking the golden-clad statue of the Silver Castle. The golden shell previously placed on the statue by the Guardian of the Golden City suddenly cracked, and the Silver Castle statue instantly regained its freedom!

【The Demon Statue of the Silver Castle】【ATK0→2000】

However, although the attack power of the [Silver City Demon Statue] increased by 2000 points in one go, it was still no match for [Golden Madman - Eldridge]. The demon statue had just raised its greatsword to meet the attacking golden lich when the punch, which gathered a huge amount of magic power, broke the weapon in its hand and shattered the statue as well.

[Hayato: 4000→1200LP]

Since it was a dark game, Hayato showed a pained expression as his base score dropped, seemingly because he had been greatly injured by the attack. After all, a full 2800 base points had been deducted.

Seeing that Hayato had survived the attack and wasn't directly eliminated, Kaiba breathed a sigh of relief. On the surface, however, he remained calm and even spoke arrogantly, "Hmph, what a disgrace, Hayato Kobayashi. You were almost defeated in one fell swoop. If you lose to someone else so easily before I defeat you, I will be quite angry."

"Heh, don't worry, Seth, I won't lose. It's just a minor fatal wound. For duelists, as long as their life points don't drop to zero, they're infinite." Hayato said weakly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead caused by the "pain."

Seeing that his combo, which he had originally intended to finish off Hayato in one go, had been blocked by Hayato, the mysterious man decisively changed his target and said, "Because of the existence of [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon], I am temporarily unable to finish off your remaining 1200 base points. You've escaped with your life, Hayato."

"In that case, I will use [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] to attack [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] next."

"Hmph, so you've set your sights on me because you can't defeat Kobayashi Hayato? You actually think I'm inferior to Kobayashi Hayato and easier to deal with? You really underestimate me." Kaiba frowned. "When monsters with the same attack power fight each other, they'll both perish. In that case, I can't lose in terms of momentum! [Blue Eyes]!"

The effects of [Undead World] transformed the female warriors of the Undead race into a battle against a dragon under the watchful eyes of both duelists. [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain]'s blade pierced the body of [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], and [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] retaliated with a breath of dragon fire, seemingly a mutually destructive outcome.

Seeing that Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Messenger of the Underworld - Kain had seemingly perished together, their corpses lying in the Undead World filled with carnage, Kaiba reluctantly sent his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card to the Graveyard.

However, just as he sent the card in his hand to the graveyard, he saw that [Kane, the Messenger of the Underworld], who should have perished with [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], was actually crawling up from the pile of bones. Although her whole body was burned by [Blue-Eyes White Dragon]'s dragon breath, she was still on the field!?

"If a Zombie monster on my field is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish [Gigantamax Magella] from my hand or Graveyard instead."

From his own graveyard, the mysterious figure retrieved a card—it was none other than the Giant Ghoul - Magella, which had just been sent to the graveyard as fusion material for [Golden Madman - Eldridge]. "If [Giant Ghoul - Magella] is banished from your hand or graveyard, Special Summon this card in Defense Position, and decrease its Level by 1☆."

The design features the classic undead monster, [Jera's Warrior]. The enormous [Giant Ghoul - Magera] rises from the ground next to [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] and appears on the field of the Mysterious Person, seemingly having protected [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] from being destroyed by [Blue-Eyes White Dragon].

【Giant Ghoul - Mojera】【8☆→7☆】【DEF2300】

"My attack isn't over yet. Next up is [Golden Lord Eldridge], attacking Seto Kaiba's [White Spirit Dragon] on the field!"

Following [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain], [Golden Lord - Eldridge] also launched an attack. The golden lich, imbued with magical power, ignored the dragon breath that the [White Spirit Dragon] had unleashed, which could have been fatal to him. He lunged forward, approached the white dragon, and shattered it with a single punch.

[Haima: 4000→3000LP]

"【White Spirit Dragon】! Ugh..." After taking an extra 1000 points of combat damage, Kaiba subconsciously frowned, but suddenly felt something was strange.

To be honest, he did feel pain, but having experienced so many Dark Games, he should have some understanding of how much pain a certain amount of damage would cause. However, the damage he was feeling at this moment didn't feel like the pain of 1000 points of damage at all; saying it was 100 points would be a stretch.

Although I don't understand, if I encounter anything strange, I can't go wrong by looking for Kobayashi Hayato first. Even if he didn't do it, it's at least related to him, and if all else fails, he definitely knows something.

Noticing Kaiba's gaze, Hayato, who had just been putting on an expression of "I can't take it anymore, 2800 points of damage hurts so much, I'm going to die," sighed helplessly: "Seriously, you're such an embarrassment, Kaiba, you actually got hurt. I was going to keep up this act for a little longer."

"So, it really was you who did it, right? What exactly happened?" Seahorse asked, frowning.

"To put it in your terms, our opponents are using secondary privileges granted to them by others who have the ability to initiate dark games. They can't do anything except run the default dark game. But I, with the [Millennium Artifact], have administrator privileges and can modify the rules of this dark game."