Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Although she's only Rank 3☆, the [Temple's Water Warrior] is not only proficient in summoning spells from another world," Hayato said earnestly, "she also knows the ultimate magic—the Reality Marble—which allows her to swap sizes with the world and reveal materialized mental landscapes!"

The Temple's Water Warrior raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking like, "When did I learn that kind of thing?" Then he paused, remembering that he did seem to know something similar, but when did it become called a "Realm Marble"? He'd never heard of that term before!

"If I have a [Brave Token] on my field, I can activate the effect of [Temple's Water Warrior] to select one Field Spell Card from my Deck with the Token Name of a [Brave Token] and place it face-up in my Field Zone. I choose this card, [Forest of Bewitching Flowers]!"

Hayato takes the card "Forest of Enchanted Flowers" from his deck and places it into the area where the Duel Disk opens, while "Water Warrior of the Temple" mumbles a spell to modify the surrounding environment.

"I-am-the-bone-of-my-sword?"

Although the Water Warrior of the Temple herself sounded rather unconfident, her magic actually succeeded. Starting from her feet, the ground inside the room, which had been destroyed by the water used in the ritual to summon the hero, was quickly replaced with dry, soft muddy ground covered with a thin layer of grass. The surrounding area also transformed from an indoor space into a dark forest.

Unidentified plants emitting a faint pink glow grew everywhere, while another type of plant emitting a ghostly blue glow swayed its slender stems in the breeze. Towering trees that looked almost identical surrounded the area, and a light mist shrouded the distance, making it almost impossible to lose one's way in this jungle.

"The hero and his companions have entered the Forest of Lost Paths. How will they escape this labyrinthine, dreamlike forest of mist? The answer will be revealed in the next installment. I will set two cards face down to end this turn."

Hayato, who had inserted two cards into the Spell & Trap Zone and had two cards left in his hand, said to Chronos, "Now it's my turn to witness your duel, Mr. Chronos."

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

【Hero's Derivatives】【ATK2000】

【The Temple's Water Warrior】(Starry Butterfly) 【DEF1200】

[Disruptor King] [DEF3000]

【Journey of Destiny】【GaiKar】X2

Location: [Forest of Enchanted Flowers]

Chapter 1012 The griffin is just decoration; the important figures above wouldn't understand.

"But Mr. Danrito, didn't you just say that the [Forest of Enchanted Flowers] is some kind of 'realm barrier' created by the [Water Warriors of the Temple]?" Chronos noticed the small detail and asked, "So what exactly is required to get lost in a barrier that one has created?"

"Don't worry about the details, these are basic operations for Aqua, okay?" Hayato said casually, watching Chronos draw cards from his deck and begin his turn.

Summoning the hero to another world, their first companion, using water magic, and finally adding the blue main color—Hayato simply doesn't believe that the [Water Warriors of the Temple] have no connection whatsoever with the "wisdom" goddess Aqua. Therefore, Hayato unhesitatingly added the "wisdom" setting to the [Water Warriors] in his impromptu heroic epic.

But that's not important. What's important is that he's quite looking forward to seeing what kind of exciting duel Chronos will put on. After all, the purpose of this duel from the beginning wasn't to win; it was simply that Hayato wanted to understand Chronos's strength.

If you really want to win, you should know that Hayato also has an Ancient Gear deck. Although he only used it once when he bullied Jaden, he could easily use it in conjunction with Super Polymerization to give Chronos a surprise, letting him see that the big brother he finally summoned has suddenly appeared as material for an even stronger fusion big brother on Hayato's side.

Otherwise, there are other decks for him to choose from, such as Gaia, Cyber ​​Dragon, and Half-Dragon Maid, which can give Chronos a little Tamashii shock anytime, anywhere. And the secret weapons Dragonlight, Shaddoll, and Inferno can bring a different kind of surprise.

"My turn, draw." Chronos casually activated his spell card, "I activate the spell [Pot of Greed], draw two cards from my deck, noona~"

"Yes, they look alike, very alike."

As Chronos drew cards from his deck, Hayato suddenly said something exactly like what Chronos had said before, which made Chronos feel a little strange. Noticing that Hayato's gaze was fixed on the [Pot of Greed] on his field, Chronos also looked over.

Huh? A mirror?

Chronos was taken aback, wondering why he could see his own face, before belatedly realizing that it was clearly the face on the Pot of Greed.

He wasn't stupid; he immediately guessed why "Dan Kuroto" had suddenly blurted out that sentence out of the blue. It was clearly a response to his earlier insistence on the resemblance between the [Hero's Token] and him, and a jab at him for looking like the [Pot of Greed]!

"So, Mr. Dan Kuroto, what you meant when you suddenly mentioned 'Pot of Greed' when you got off the train?!" Chronos pouted, slightly annoyed, and said, "How rude of me! That was just a coincidence!"

"I've used that reason before, but you didn't believe me either."

Hayato made a sarcastic remark and played a card from his hand: "During both players' Main Phases, if I control a [Brave Token], Special Summon [Wandering Griffin Knight] from my hand, which was previously added to my hand by the effect of [Journey of Destiny]."

As the Pot of Greed disappeared from the field, a sudden gust of wind swept around the Hero Token and the Temple Water Warrior, scaring away the Starry Butterfly that had approached from the forest, and a huge figure landed beside them.

Its strong forebody is protected by mechanical armor on its wings, while its purple lion body and eagle claws on its forelimbs stand on the ground. Its eagle head is raised high with arrogance. It is a majestic eagle-headed lion-bodied beast, also known as a griffin!

"So cool!" Even Hayato, seeing the [Wandering Griffin Knight] in 3D form for the first time, couldn't help but exclaim, admiring the [Griffin's] powerful and imposing figure. It wasn't just his appearance that was cool; the [Wandering Griffin Knight] possessed a kind of beauty called "strength," which was why Hayato praised him.

Upon hearing Hayato's words, a voice came from the Griffin's side: "Thank you for your praise, hero, although you are praising this child, not me."

Hayato paused, shifting his gaze from the griffin to above, where he noticed a small orc sitting on the griffin's back. The orc was only as tall as the griffin's head and held a bow and arrow. Judging from its race, it seemed to be a cat.

It was only after recognizing the speaker that Hayato suddenly remembered that the subject of "[Wandering Griffin Knight]" wasn't "griffin" but "knight." But not only was his body barely visible in the card art, but the cat-man knight in the 3D image was also hiding behind a massive griffin—who could possibly spot him at a glance!

【The Wandering Griffin Rider】【7☆/Wind】

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[2000/2800]

Even Hayato, whose back was turned to [Wandering Griffin Knight], was like this, not to mention Chronos, who could only see its front. At this moment, Chronos was looking at [Wandering Griffin Knight] on Hayato's field and exclaimed, "What an amazing monster! It can be Special Summoned from the hand during the opponent's turn?"

“But because of this, I understand now, Mr. Dan Rito. The core of your ‘Epic Adventure’ deck lies in the core of the savior team—the ‘Hero,’ which is the [Hero Token], right?” Chronos said with an air of unparalleled wisdom. “Once the [Hero Token] is destroyed, many of your monsters and card effects will become unusable, right?”

“A team without a ‘Hero’ is like a pancake without a filling—it has no soul. But can you destroy a ‘Hero Token’ while protecting your other companions?” Hayato raised his Duel Disk. “The effect of the Continuous Spell Card ‘Journey of Destiny’ can only be activated once per turn when a monster is Normal or Special Summoned: either add one Equip Spell Card from your Deck with the name of a ‘Hero Token’ in its name to your hand, or equip one ‘Hero Token’ on my field.”

"In the mist-shrouded Forest of Illusions, another destined companion has met the hero. As a cat-person skilled in taming strong magical beasts, he helped the hero tame a mount for transportation. The Equip Spell Card I chose is this one, [Riding Dragon - Carrying Dragon], and I equip it to the [Hero Token] on my field!"

The cat-human on the back of the [Wandering Griffin Rider] blew a horn that seemed to have been pulled from nowhere. From somewhere in the [Forest of Bewildering Flowers], a blue wyvern slowly walked to the side of the [Hero's Derivative]. The saddle that was pre-installed on its back indicated that it was the mount that the [Wandering Griffin Rider] had brought to the hero. Not only were its legs strong, but the folded wings on its sides and the fins on its long tail showed that it was also an amphibious mount.

Just like when the [Temple Water Warrior] was equipped with [Starry Butterfly], Chronos found that the attack power of the [Hero Token] did not change due to the equipped [Dragon Rider - Dragon Carrier], remaining at a fairly high value of 2000. Generally speaking, it would be difficult for monsters that can be normally summoned to defeat it, not to mention that the effects of the newly appeared [Griffin Knight] and the two equipped cards are still unknown.

However, who says that destroying monsters requires battle? Chronos inserts a card into the Spell & Trap Zone, and as he activates the card, a strange black dot suddenly appears in the empty space of the [Forest of Enchanted Flowers]. The black dot, located exactly in the center of Hayato and Chronos's field, releases a powerful pull force indiscriminately to the entire field, as if it wants to engulf and devour everything.

"The spell card [Black Hole] destroys all monsters on both players' fields. It's a card that indiscriminately destroys the entire field. Although it's not as powerful as [Lightning Strike], which won't affect my monsters, since I don't have any monsters on my field at this moment, using it is completely effortless, no way~"

Chronos said smugly, pointing to Hayato's field, "Although summoning three monsters proves that you, Mr. Dan Rito, have quite good dueling skills, unfortunately, your [Brave Token], [Wandering Griffin Knight], and [Temple Water Warrior] will all be destroyed by the effect of this powerful card! The more monsters you summon, the more you lose, no way!"

After a pause, Chronos realized he had forgotten something, glanced at Hayato on the field again, and added, "Oh right, and [Disruptor King] too, it will be destroyed as well!"

[Disruptor King]: "It's okay if you don't notice me~"

"Idiot, [Black Hole] destroys indiscriminately, okay? Even if no one notices you, you'll still be destroyed," Hayato retorted. [Disruption King] also showed a surprised expression, seemingly genuinely believing that as long as it wasn't noticed, it wouldn't be destroyed.

The black hole rapidly took shape. The Hero Derivative riding on the Dragon-Dragon Rider and the Temple Water Warrior holding the Starry Butterfly both looked like they were about to collapse. The Disruptor King had even lifted his feet off the ground and was only able to avoid being sucked in by clinging to a giant tree in the Forest of Bewitching Flowers. Hayato, however, remained calm. He glanced at the Wandering Griffin Knight who nodded at him and said, "However, I won't let you destroy my monster so easily, Mr. Chronos."

"It's just a black hole, that's all. The griffin isn't just for show; watch me push it back!"

With a wave of his hand, Chronos saw the [Wandering Griffin Knight] that Hayato had just specially summoned actually charging towards the [Black Hole] under Hayato's command!?

"Tree of Blessing, sharpen your fangs... My tombstone lies ahead of the arrow!" Using the power of the [Griffin] to maintain his balance, and closing the distance to a certain point, the [Wandering Griffin Knight], with his petite frame, wielded a crossbow several times larger than himself and fired an arrow that defied gravity!

"The Bow of Prayer!"

As the arrow was launched, the Black Hole attempted to pull it away with gravity, but the arrow was imbued with the power of the forest by the Wandering Griffin Rider. The Black Hole was not fighting against the arrow, but against an entire forest. Despite its name, the Black Hole was not an infinitely devouring celestial body. The fully activated power of the arrow transformed into a towering tree rising from the earth, forcefully bursting the Black Hole apart!

But at the cost, the griffin that resisted gravity and the cat-person archer on its back both showed signs of exhaustion: "Sorry, hero, I'll go back and rest for a bit. I'll catch up with you soon. Go home, Mon3ter."

With a griffin whose name seems to be "Mon3ter", the [Wandering Griffin Knight] disappeared from the field and returned to Hayato's deck.

"The effect of 【Wandering Griffin Knight】 can be activated when I control a 【Brave Token】 or when the effects of a Spell, Trap, or Monster are activated. Return it to its owner's Deck, negate its activation, and destroy it." Hayato explained, noticing Chronos's puzzled look, as he put away the 【Wandering Griffin Knight】 card.

At the same time, Hayato was also somewhat relieved that Chronos did not possess the ability to see spirits. After all, although Hayato had seen many of them, this ability was still quite rare. Otherwise, he would have had to explain to Chronos why the spirit of the [Wandering Griffin Knight] called him "Hero," even though he had finally managed to distance himself from the [Hero Derivative].

"Wow, that's incredibly fast! It's only the first time it's been used, and the [Wandering Griffin Knight] has already awakened its spirit form!" Hayato thought, glancing at the [Temple Water Warrior] on the field, who had relaxed after dodging the [Black Hole] and was dusting itself off—clearly showing signs of self-awareness. "And the [Temple Water Warrior] seems to have awakened as well?"

'Aside from the [Rite of Amases], all the cards were bought from the system shop. No, considering that Pegasus Nightwalker can use 'Planet' cards to promote other people's Pokémon awakening, maybe Dartz's [Rite of Amases] gave me has a similar ability?'

Just as Hayato was pondering this, seeing that [Black Hole] was negated and destroyed by [Wandering Griffin Knight], Chronos exclaimed excitedly, "What remarkable resolve! Sacrificing yourself to protect your comrades, that moves me deeply, Mr. Dan Rito. Without a doubt, you and your deck possess a brilliant and noble spirit!"

"In that case, I'll have to give it my all."

Chronos played a card from his hand and said, "I activate the spell card [Angel's Charity]. Draw three cards from my deck and then discard two cards from my hand."

"Then comes the effect of the Spell Card [Ancient Gear Double]: Target two [Ancient Gear] monsters in both players' Graveyards, and Special Summon those monsters to my field. Negate the effects of the monsters Special Summoned by this effect."

Chronos, having used [Angel's Charity] to change his hand and simultaneously fill his graveyard, and then revive two monsters in one go, waved his hand triumphantly and said, "Come forth, mechanical monsters from the Dark Ages!"

"Ancient gear-driven machinery, and ancient mechanical synthetic beasts!"

Chapter 1013: Bipedal, winged, three-headed dragon, capable of triple attacks, identified as a true Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (not...).

"Come forth, mechanical monsters from the Dark Ages! [Ancient Gear Machines], and [Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Beasts]!"

Chronos casually played a card whose effect was ten or even nine times stronger than "Monster Resurrection," Special Summoning two monsters from his Graveyard in one go. However, the only drawback was that the two Special Summoned monsters failed to retain their original effects.

Its appearance is similar to those "tool" monsters commonly used in games. In fact, in addition to the "ancient machine" field on the surface, there is also a mechanical humanoid carrying gears on its back in defense position on Chronos's field. Beside it is a mechanical synthetic beast with a sturdy body on all fours, wearing copper-green gold armor, and topped with four heads of different styles that look like they are pieced together from scrap parts.

[Ancient Gear-Driven Machinery] [4 stars/location]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[500/2000]

[Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Beast] [6☆/Land]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[2300/1300]

"These two monsters Special Summoned from my Graveyard using the effect of 'Ancient Gear Dual' have lost their original effects, but other than that, they have no restrictions on changing form, Tributing, or attacking," Chronos said smugly to Hayato. "Although I can't deal with 'Disruptor King' for the time being, which has filled my Monster Zone and prevented me from summoning any monsters, I can still manage with 'Ancient Gear Dual' alone—"

Before Chronos could finish speaking, he saw the Starry Butterflies from the Forest of Bewitching Flowers, whose homes had been destroyed by the Black Hole and who had come fuming, surrounding the two Ancient Mechanical monsters that had suddenly appeared. Meanwhile, the Starry Butterfly next to the Temple's Water Warrior was also stirring up trouble among its kind.

"It's true that the attack power of the Ancient Mechanical Beast is higher than that of the Hero Token, but the Starry Butterfly that lives in this Lost Forest has brought protection to the Hero's party. With the effect of the Equip Spell Card Starry Butterfly, for every monster on my field whose name is listed as a Hero Token, the ATK of all monsters on your opponent's field decreases by 500 points of that type."

Hayato looked at Chronos's two-bodied monster, weakened by the mist, and said, "I've taken over the high ground!"

[Ancient Gear-Driven Machinery] [500/2000→0/2000]

[Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Beast] [ATK2300→1800]

"Attack power has been reduced to even lower than [Hero Token], huh!?" Chronos was stunned for a moment, his eyebrows jumping up and down in a comical expression, but he quickly recovered and said, "In that case, there's no other way but to use this card."

"Activate the Continuous Spell Card, Ancient Gear Fortress, so that the Ancient Gear monsters I control cannot be targeted by my opponent's card effects or destroyed by their card effects during the turn they are Normal or Special Summoned, and my opponent cannot activate the effects of Spell, Trap, or Monster cards in response to the activation of Ancient Gear card effects."

First, Chronos played a card that could grant the Ancient Gear monster some resistance, protecting the monster he was going to use next. Then, Chronos removed the two monster cards that had just been summoned from his Duel Disk. "I haven't performed a Normal Summon this turn. I'll Tribute Summon the Ancient Gear Gear and Ancient Gear Synthesis Beast monsters that I control!"

As a massive mechanical fortress, almost equivalent to a field spell card, rose up in Chronos's back row, clearing a large open space by pushing aside countless trees in the "Forest of Flowers," a new mechanical monster was assembled using the two released monsters as raw materials.

The copper-green metal armor was nested on the outer layer of tightly meshed gear parts. Driven by the [Ancient Gear Machine], the body parts of the [Ancient Mechanical Synthesis Beast] were reassembled into a huge mechanical dragon. Three of its original four heads were mounted on top, and the remaining one was mounted on its long tail.

[Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Dragon] [7☆/Land]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[2700/1700]

Seeing Chronos activate the Ancient Mechanical Fortress and then release the monster to summon the superior Ancient Mechanical Synthesis Dragon, Hayato nodded approvingly, quite appreciating Chronos's tactical thinking so far.

First, he replenished his hand with a [Pot of Greed], and then used the card advantage as a warning to allow Hayato to Special Summon [Wandering Griffin Knight]. Given the precedent of [Temple Water Warrior], Chronos probably guessed that [Wandering Griffin Knight] had the ability to be Special Summoned when [Hero Token] was on the field.

After Hayato's monsters increased in number, he decisively used [Black Hole] to wipe out all of Hayato's monsters, but it was pushed back by [Wandering Griffin Knight].

However, at the same time, he successfully tricked Kang of "Wandering Griffin Knight", and then activated "Angel's Charity" which he used when he really started to draw cards and fill the graveyard. While his hand was reduced to five cards, he revived two monsters in the graveyard with "Ancient Machine Double".