Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Hayato snapped his fingers. "Besides reducing true damage to 10% of its original value, there's also this."

With Hayato's snap of his fingers, the previously pitch-black Dark Game Barrier suddenly disappeared, and Kaiba was able to see Keihei and Ameruda watching the duel.

"Kuihei? And that guy Ameruda?"

“Didn’t I tell you I came with them? Well, now I do.” Hayato spread his hands. “Although you and Keihei can see each other now, the barrier of the Dark Games still exists. You’ll have to wait until the duel is over to get out.”

At this moment, the mysterious person on the other side also spoke up: "You two are actually looking around during the duel, you don't take me seriously at all, Seto Kaiba and Hayato Kobayashi!"

"Flip a card down, my turn is over!"

[?: 1000LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Golden Secretary - Eldridge] [ATK3500]

[Golden Madman - Eldridge] [ATK4800→3800]

【Messenger of the Underworld - Kain】【ATK3000】

【Giant Ghoul - Mojera】【DEF2300】

[GaiK] X4

Location: [The Undying World]

Upon hearing the mysterious man's words, Kaiba sneered, "Hmph, is there something wrong with that? You just converted a large number of monsters to Attack Position to launch a strong attack, trying to defeat either me or Hayato Kobayashi, but you failed. The price you paid is that you now have a large number of monsters in Attack Position on your field."

"This duel is over. You have no monster that can rival Kobayashi Hayato's [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon]. The remaining 1000 Life Points are as fragile as a candle in the wind."

Upon hearing this, Hayato glanced at Kaiba and asked, "What grudge do we have that you're cursing me to make a promise like this?"

Hayato placed his finger on the top card of his deck and looked at the mysterious figure, saying, "Now that things have come to this, the duel should end. My turn, draw."

[Hayato: 1200LP, hand card 5→6]

"During my opponent's Preparation Phase, because there are cards in the field area, I Special Summon 'Necromancer King - Evil Eye' from my Graveyard in Defense Position." As Hayato drew the card, the mysterious man immediately took out a monster he had prepared from his Graveyard and placed it face down on the field. 'Necromancer King - Evil Eye,' which negates the effects of Zombie-Type monsters, reappeared, filling the last empty space on his front field.

[Necromancer King - Evil Eye] [DEF2000]

Although [Dead King - Evil Eye] can negate many monster effects when combined with [Undead World], to defeat that mysterious person, Hayato doesn't even need to activate monster effects; he only needs to use [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] to attack any of the mysterious person's Attack Position monsters on the field.

Although the effect of [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] can only be considered pseudo-all resistance, which can only resist the effects of activation and has no resistance to continuous effects, it is still a resistance. Combined with its high attack power, it can bring victory to Hayato with just one hit.

Just to be on the safe side, Hayato still used the effect of [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon].

"Activate the effect of [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon]: Once per turn, select one monster from both players' Graveyards as its Equip Card. [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] can attack up to the number of times the Equip Card is used during a Battle Phase."

"I choose [Golden Lord Eldridge] from the opponent's graveyard."

Upon hearing Hayato's intention to use the effect of "Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark End Dragon," the mysterious man also activated the effect of the recently summoned "Dead King - Evil Eye": "Then I will use the effect of 'Dead King - Evil Eye.' When a Zombie monster activates its effect, I will choose to banish one monster card from either player's field or Graveyard. The target is 'Golden Lord - Eldridge.'"

Rather than letting Hayato's [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] be used as an equipment card, I'd rather banish it myself. Perhaps with this in mind, [Golden Lord - Eldridge] was banished first.

Hayato didn't feel any regret. One of the reasons he chose [Golden Lord - Eldridge] was to force the opponent to use the banishing effect of [Necromancer King - Evil Eye], and his strategy was only just beginning.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed,' and draw two cards from my deck..."

First, he played the card with a super cool-looking "Pot of Greed" to draw cards, but as soon as Hayato put the card down, the mysterious man immediately opened his face-down card and said: "Chain with 'Pot of Greed', open the face-down card 'Eternal Shining Gold Country', when there is an 'Eldridge' monster on my field, when the monster's effect, spell or trap card is activated, I release 1 Zombie monster on my field to negate the activation and destroy it."

The golden lich, seated on his throne, casually snapped his fingers, shattering the Pot of Greed, which was about to spit out two cards in front of Hayato, into pieces.

"No! Chronos! You died a terrible death!" Hayato shouted at the negated [Pot of Greed], then glanced at the two face-down cards on the back row of the mysterious figure, frowning. "He wouldn't let me gain any cards, how infuriating. In that case..."

"The magic card [Harpie's Feather Duster], using a feather duster to deal with the Golden Nation is a classic move, let me wreak havoc in my back row!"

Chapter 886 Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

"The Spell Card [Harpie's Feather Duster], destroy my backrow!"

"You didn't expect that, did you? The 'Pot of Greed' that seemed like a card draw was actually a trick I used to fool you!"

This was a lie. Hayato had no idea that the card his opponent had covered up contained a card. He had simply wanted to draw a card to earn more cards. But that didn't stop him from wearing an expression that said, "Everything is going according to plan."

The powerful backrow destruction card "Harpie's Feather Duster," obtained from Jonouchi's friend, is activated, creating a hurricane that sweeps towards the mysterious person's field. The goal is not only to destroy the remaining three face-down cards in his backrow, but also to eliminate "Undead World."

Although he's not as fastidious as Kaiba, and gets furious when others change his Blue-Eyes species, Hayato doesn't really like others touching his monsters; he's a pure love person at heart.

Of course, if he himself is the one who lays hands on other people's monsters, then there's no problem.

However, the mysterious man naturally wouldn't let Hayato destroy the cards in his back row so easily. He opened both face-down cards at once: "Then let's chain [Golden Conqueror] and [Guardian of the Golden City]."

Seeing this, Kaiba said, "Although [Guardian of the Golden City] will become a Normal Monster on your field after activation, it is still considered a Trap Card and can still be destroyed by [Harpie's Feather Duster]."

"It doesn't matter if it gets destroyed, as long as its effect works." The mysterious man placed the [Guardian of the Golden City], which was about to be destroyed, in the front row. "The effect of [Guardian of the Golden City]: If there is an [Eldridge] monster on my field after this card is Special Summoned, reduce the ATK of 1 monster to 0."

"I choose Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

One of the two remaining Blue-Eyes monsters on the field was targeted by the effect of Guardian of the Golden City. A layer of gold rose from the feet of the White Dragon and spread over its body. Just like Hayato's Demon Statue of the Silver Castle before, it was completely covered in gold, unable to move, and crashed to the ground. At the same time, its attack was reduced to 0.

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK3000→0]

Because Hiroya Misawa had already been eliminated, it was the mysterious man's turn after Hayato's turn ended, and now he used the effect of [Guardian of the Golden City] to reduce the attack power of [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] to 0.

This means that if Hayato cannot defeat him this turn, he can use [Golden Lord Eldridge], [Golden Madman Eldridge], or any monster with an attack power of 3000 or more to reduce Kaiba's base stats to zero in the next turn.

In addition to [Guardian of the Golden City], another of his activated cards is also taking effect.

The mysterious man took out three cards from his pocket and said, "【Golden Conqueror】is a card that only works when there is an 【Eldridge】 monster on my field. Choose one of each of the three types of 【Golden Land】Spell/Trap Cards that I banished and return them to my Deck. Reduce your opponent's Life Points to half their value and restore my Life Points to their value!"

"My goal remains you, Seto Kaiba!"

On the field, the mysterious player, "Golden Madman - Eldridge," raised his hand and aimed it at Seahorse. He then clenched his fist tightly, and under the influence of an invisible magic, Seahorse's base score suddenly dropped by half, causing Eldridge to raise an eyebrow.

Seto Kaiba: 3000→1500LP

Although Hayato reduced the true impact of Dark Game's damage, 1500 points of damage feels like only 150 points, not painful at all, just a little itchy, as if the seemingly violent [Golden Madman - Eldridge] on the other side is actually tickling him.

As the Seahorse's base score decreased, the Mystic's base score, which was originally the lowest in the game, began to rise.

[?: 1000→2500LP]

Seeing the opponent's base score rise, Hayato hadn't said anything yet, but Kaiba frowned: "It actually recovered its base score? Tch, so that means even if [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon]'s attack targets [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain], which has the lowest attack power, it can't clear it?"

"Moreover, [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark End Dragon] only has one [Horse-Head Demon] as an Equip Card, so it can't attack more times." After muttering to himself, Kaiba looked at Hayato and said, "It seems that one monster is not enough to deal with the opponent. Hayato Kobayashi, you will probably have to summon a stronger monster."

Hearing Kaiba's words, Hayato couldn't help but glance at the only monster card in his hand: "Well..."

The spirit on the card noticed Hayato looking at it, and arrogantly put its hands on its hips, expecting Hayato to use it.

The Harpy's Feather Duster swept across the field, clearing all the Spell & Trap Cards on the Mysterious Man's field. The Guardian of the Golden Land then appeared, reducing the attack of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to 0 before being destroyed and sent to the Graveyard to wait for the next turn to play its effect. Also destroyed was a Trap Card, Bloodstained Elixir of Immortality, which the Mysterious Man couldn't activate because his field was already full.

Although the opponent successfully activated two cards before the face-down card was destroyed, the most crucial thing was that the Field Spell Card [Undead World] was successfully destroyed. The purple mist filled with the smell of decay that permeated the air and the bones scattered all over the ground gradually turned into nothingness. The [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark End Dragon], which was transformed into an Undead, and the [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] on Kaiba's field were also returning to their original forms.

Kaiba watched as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was about to revert back to its original form, but before he could even smile, the mysterious figure pulled a card from the graveyard and said, "The effect of the second 'Banshee of the Corpse World' in my graveyard banishes it from the graveyard and activates the second 'Undead World' from my deck!"

"Um!?"

To the surprise of both Kaiba and Hayato, another [Undead World] was activated. The purple mist and corpses had barely dissipated before they were restored, and [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] and [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] were once again transformed into undead monsters.

"Hayato Kobayashi! You did a great job with that [Hellfire Teara]! You did a great job!"

Picking at his ear, ignoring Kaiba's sarcastic tone, Hayato really couldn't refute anything. Previously, while he was using [Inferno Tira] to cut off the opponent's hand, he had caused each duelist to dump the top three cards of their deck into the graveyard, but this mysterious person's graveyard-dumping cards were top-notch.

【Bone Boar Throw】, 【Banshee of the Corpse World】, and 【Necromancer King - Evil Eye】 are three cards that can be used to blindly stack three cards in the graveyard, making them perfect for using with Little Blue. You absolutely must fill your deck with three Little Blue cards. However, it's hard to say whether you can stack the graveyard like you are now or blindly stack three 【Pot of Greed】 when using Little Blue.

"2500 base points, that's the perfect number, perfect for me to use this powerful monster."

Hayato drew his only monster card from his remaining four cards and shouted, "O ultimate dragon crowned with the title of 'Future Dragon Emperor,' the ultimate bulwark protecting our family, the most trustworthy and reliable girl, answer me!"

"I'll summon Little Blue directly! Come forth, [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl]!"

Wearing a pristine white maid outfit, with the blue hem of her skirt billowing as she twirled upon her entrance, [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl], also known as Invincible Little Blue, appeared on Hayato's field with a smug look on her face. She stood with her hands on her hips, about to strike a pose, but tripped over her own long, fluffy tail and tripped, getting her clean clothes dirty from the stains on the ground.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Xiao Lan looked like she was about to cry.

【Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl】【2☆/Water】

[Dragon/Effect → Undead/Effect]

[500/1600]

Seeing Blue's pathetic performance and weak attack power upon its appearance, even Kaiba couldn't help but sigh, "Such a weak dragon..."

"No, Blue is an undead now!" Blue raised her hand and spoke up after hearing the seahorse's words. She then ran to the opposite side and took a sticky note with the word "undead" written on it from the hand of the [Undead King - Evil Eye] and stuck it on her forehead.

"If [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl] is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned, this effect activates. Send the top three cards of my Deck to the Graveyard." Hayato said casually, not expecting Little Blue to summon anything good, and besides, it was hard to say whether this effect would even activate.

"In that case, I will activate the effect of [Dead King - Evil Eye], which will negate the effect of any undead monster."

As Hayato expected, although no one knew what strange cards Little Blue could pile into the graveyard, the mysterious person opposite him didn't give Hayato a chance to gamble at all, using [Necromancer King - Evil Eye] to negate Little Blue's effect once per turn.

"They even work on Xiao Lan's effects?! That's inhumane!"

Hayato's character, Xiao Lan, protested upon hearing the mysterious man's words. Hayato looked at Xiao Lan helplessly and said, "Idiot, the other side is an undead race; they're not human."

"Don't you have any other monsters to choose from, Hayato Kobayashi? You're using such a lowly monster?"

Kaiba glanced disdainfully at Hayato's Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field, then at his own Blue-Eyes White Dragon, secretly pleased with himself. "Hmph, your dragon monsters aren't as good-looking as my Blue-Eyes."

"Don't say that, Seth. Don't underestimate Blue's attack power just because it's only 500. 500 attack power is more than enough." Hayato soothed Blue, who was glaring at Kaiba, while drawing a card from his hand. "The puzzle to victory is complete. I activate the spell card [Hidden Path to Treasure]."

"Target my Blue character with an attack power of 1000 or less. This turn, Blue character can attack the opponent's duelist directly!"

"What?!"

Under the mysterious man's astonished gaze, Hayato's Blue triumphantly raised her hand, revealing a dusty key in her hand, which she seemed to have picked up while she had just tripped and fallen on the ground. After inserting the key directly into the air, she seemed to have opened a hidden map in the game and walked into it, disappearing from sight.

"Entering the battle phase, I use [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon] to attack [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain]! Thunder Dragon's Roar!"

Although Hayato's announced move name was clearly not the name of the attack move 【Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon】, he still coordinated by releasing a bolt of lightning and controlling it into a dragon shape, aiming it at the direction of 【Messenger of the Underworld - Kain】, the move with the lowest attack power on the field.

Previously, when the mysterious man used [Messenger of the Underworld - Kain] to destroy [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], he made a bad move by using the effect of [Giant Ghoul - Magella]. Although he did retain a rare and powerful monster, it also caused the [Golden Elixir of Immortality] to be destroyed before it could be used because the field was full. Now, because of its lowest attack power, it has become Hayato's weak point.

Although its attack power of 3000 points, a full [Blue Eye], is quite powerful, it is still not enough compared to the 5000 points of attack power of [Armored Dragon - Cyber ​​Dark Terminator Dragon]. The female swordsman who raised her sword to resist was instantly destroyed, and because it was a derivative, it was not sent to the graveyard and was thus released.

The mysterious man suffered an extra 2000 points of combat damage as a result.

"Ugh!"

[?: 2500→500LP]

Before he could even catch his breath, a door quietly opened in the air behind him. Little Blue peeked out furtively, saw the mysterious person in front of him with their back to him, completely unaware of what was happening, and a smug smile appeared on their lips.

The mysterious man also heard the commotion behind him. As he turned around and saw Xiao Lan, Hayato's voice came at the same time: "Then comes the final attack. Because of the effect of [Hidden Passage to Treasure], [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl] can directly attack the opponent's duelist. Although you have quite a few powerful monsters on the field, they are useless against your direct attack!"

"Next up, it's my turn, Xiao Lan!" Picking up a nearly rotten wooden stick from somewhere as a weapon, Xiao Lan shouted and charged at the mysterious man.