Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Let's witness a real lightning strike!"

[Heroic Token] swung his sword forward with a sudden burst, and the summoned beast behind him—the Lightning Demon—also pushed forward with both hands, unleashing unparalleled lightning that struck Chronos's only [Ancient Mechanical Synthesis Dragon] on the field!

The resistance granted by the Ancient Mechanical Fortress only lasts for one turn. At this moment, the Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Dragon, despite its powerful attack and combat effects, is like a blank slate, utterly powerless against the real lightning strike and is instantly destroyed!

After the Thunder Summon and the Ancient Mechanical Synthesis Dragon disappeared together, Chronos saw Hayato's Hero Token riding the Dragon Rider that had been sent to the graveyard.

"Entering the battle phase, I will use [Hero Token] to directly attack the duelist!" Hayato shouted, waving his hand.

"With one heart and one mind! Now is the time to show our strength!" The [Demon Mine Warrior of the Ruins] raised his axe, ready to fight.

Meanwhile, the Wandering Griffin Rider drew back his bowstring, ready to unleash his power: "Open your eyes wide, this is our all-or-nothing strike!"

"Secret Technique! Ship-Slaying Blade!! Unleashed Blade Flash!!!"

Chapter 1015 Classic Self-Destruction

Riding the [Dragon-Riding] and wielding the [Holy Sword of Light - Dannel], the [Hero Token] charged towards Chronos, who had no monsters on the field, amidst cheers from two cheerleaders.

With both hands gripping the hilt of the holy sword, spinning it like a helicopter propeller, even before the [Hero Derivative] reached Chronos, it had already used the holy sword to create a rapidly spinning airflow like a tornado, surrounding and locking onto Chronos's location.

Facing Chronos amidst the whirlwind, the [Hero Specimen] raised its holy sword, ready to cleave him in two—of course, this was just the impression it gave; in reality, if it weren't a dark game but just a regular duel, the [Hero Specimen]'s attack wouldn't cause any substantial damage.

Not to mention, even if the attack power of the [Hero Token] is as high as 3000 points, Chronos still has 3200 basic points. Even if he takes this hit, it does not mean that Chronos has lost. He will still have 200 basic points left, like a candle flickering in the wind.

Moreover, even though there are no monsters on the field, it doesn't mean Chronos has no ability to fight back. There are still two face-down cards in his back row!

Amidst the storm, a card in Chronos's back row suddenly flipped open. "Unfortunately, I'm not so easily defeated, Mr. Dan Rito!"

After pressing the button to activate the face-down card, Chronos waved his hand, "Continuous Trap Card [Ancient Gear Resurrection] activated! Once per turn, if I control no monsters, I can target one [Ancient Gear] monster in my Graveyard. Special Summon that monster to my field!"

"If a Trap Card is activated, then I'll use—" Hayato stopped mid-sentence, looking helplessly at Chronos's Continuous Spell Card, [Ancient Gear Fortress]. Not only during the turn [Ancient Gear] is Normal or Special Summoned, [Ancient Gear Fortress] grants them resistance to being targeted by their opponent's card effects and to being destroyed by their opponent's card effects. Furthermore, the opponent cannot activate the effects of Spell/Trap/Monster cards in response to the effects of [Ancient Gear].

At this moment, Hayato clearly has [Wandering Griffin Rider] on the field, but he cannot chain the effect of [Ancient Machine Resurrection] to nullify and destroy it.

Hayato had actually considered this before, namely that the "Riding Dragon - Carrying Dragon" equipped on the "Brave Token" could, when equipped to a monster other than an Effect Monster, target one card on your opponent's field and bounce it back to their hand once per turn.

However, if Hayato uses this effect during the Main Phase, Chronos will likely chain the effect of "Riding Dragon - Carrying Dragon" to activate "Ancient Gear Resurrection," leaving Hayato helpless as he Special Summons the monster, and "Ancient Gear Resurrection" is bounced back into his hand and cannot be negated by "Wandering Griffin Knight."

Looking at the large number of broken mechanical parts that gathered in front of Chronos after he activated a Trap Card, it seemed to be the scattered parts left on the field after [Ancient Gear Dragon] was destroyed by [Lightning Bolt]? Hayato asked, "So, are you going to summon [Ancient Gear Dragon] again, Mr. Chronos?"

"No, now that we've successfully defeated the [Ancient Mechanical Dragon], shouldn't a true hero challenge an even stronger, upgraded monster?" Chronos joked, then his expression turned serious. "This is my way of repaying your all-out effort, Mr. Dan Rito. I'm summoning the strongest monster in my deck! This dragon will shine forever!"

"O dragon, radiating profound light, unleash the fiery energy surging within your breast before me!" Chronos drew a monster card from the graveyard and placed it on the Duel Disk. "[Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon]!"

The discarded metal gears came together to form a synthetic dragon that was somewhat similar to the previous [Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Dragon]. In addition to the original high-speed rotating gear set, a nuclear power reactor was added to make the bronze dragon even more imposing than before!

With a sudden burst of its broad wings, the storm unleashed by the previous attack of the [Heroic Derivative] was easily torn apart before the mechanical dragon!

[Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] [9☆/Land]

[Mechanical Race/Effect]

[3000/3000]

"When was that monster?" Hayato asked, puzzled, but then it dawned on him. "I see, was it the [Ancient Mining Machine] from before?"

Compared to the Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Dragon, the Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon had higher attack power, but it did not have the ability to attack three times in a row at that time. Its attack power was not enough to break through the defense of the Disruptor King, and it also had no means to eliminate it. Therefore, Chronos chose to sacrifice the Ancient Gear Machine and the Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Beast to summon the Ancient Mechanical Synthetic Dragon.

However, [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] was sent to the graveyard by Chronos at the cost of [Ancient Excavator], and now, facing a direct attack from [Brave Token], Chronos has summoned the strongest monster in his deck!

"Not only that, the Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon, resurrected from the graveyard by the Ancient Mechanical Resurrection, will gain an additional 200 attack power, even higher than the Hero's Specimen empowered by the Holy Sword of Light - Dannel!" Chronos said smugly. "Unfortunately, Mr. Danrito, your plans have failed!"

[Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] [ATK3000→3200]

Even though the attack power of the "Brave Token" was already as high as one "Blue-Eyes" under the blessing of the "Holy Sword of Light - Dennel", the attack power of the "Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon" that appeared in front of Hayato at this moment was 200 points higher, surpassing any monster on Hayato's field.

In Duel Monsters, quality always outweighs quantity. A card with 3000 ATK can easily crush a bunch of cards with less than 3000 ATK. Although the combined ATK of the monsters on Hayato's field is enough to wipe out Chronos's Life Points, it's all just empty talk if he can't defeat "Ancient Gear Thermonuclear Dragon".

What's more troublesome is that, because of the effect of [Ancient Mechanical Fortress], the [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] Special Summoned this turn also has the resistance to be targeted by the opponent's card effects and to be destroyed by the opponent's card effects. This almost eliminates the effect of most removal cards on it, leaving almost only the option of destroying it by battle. Unfortunately, Hayato doesn't have any monsters on his field with higher attack power than it.

Because Chronos Special Summoned a new monster to the field in its attack declaration, triggering the Battle Rewind rule, the attack that [Hero Token] was about to launch was slightly paused, awaiting Hayato's choice. Either [Hero Token] continued its attack, changing its target from directly attacking Chronos to attacking [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] in a suicidal attack, or the attack was canceled, and [Hero Token] would be unable to attack again during this Battle Phase.

Hayato's answer was—"The battle continues!"

"Continue the battle?" Chronos was puzzled by Hayato's choice. "Although the Hero Token equipped with the Equipment Card won't be destroyed during this battle because of the effect of [Journey of Destiny], it's in attack position and will inevitably cause battle damage to you, Mr. Danrito. So this battle is completely meaningless, no way."

"Sorewadoka?" Hayato said with a smile. "A true hero is someone who possesses immense courage, and true courage is knowing what fears you have, understanding the gaps between you and others better than anyone else, yet being able to face them and make them yours."

As he spoke, a card appeared on his field: "Quick-Play Spell Card [Concentrated Socket] activated! You can target one face-up monster I control to activate this card. Increase its ATK by that amount until the end of this turn. As a cost, during the turn this card is activated, my monsters other than the targeted monster cannot attack!"

Hayato waved his hand and said, "Let's gather our strength together once again and lend our bodies to everyone!"

The Holy Sword of Light - Dannel was once again lifted above the head of the Hero's Derivative. This time, an even greater amount of magic surged into the sword. It was the power of the Wandering Griffin Knight and the Magic Mine Warrior of the Ruins behind the Hero. They transferred all their power to the Hero's Derivative at the cost of being unable to continue fighting.

"Take it, this is our last bit of magic!" x2

[Hero Derivatives] (Dragon Rider - Dragonbearer, Holy Sword of Light - Dannel) [ATK 3000 → 5000]

Hearing the voice behind him, the Hero Specimen, whose attack power surpassed that of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and even the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and was comparable to the Five Divine Dragons, once again aimed its sword at the Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon in front of it, continuing its charge that it had failed to complete before!

"There is nothing in the world that our ship-cutting sword cannot cut!" Hayato said confidently.

"My goodness, 5000 attack power!?" Even Chronos was momentarily surprised by the attack power of the [Brave Token], but he quickly calmed down and pressed the button to activate the face-down card. "But, not only you, Mr. Dan Rito, I also have cards that can increase the attack power of monsters! Quick-Play Spell Card [Limit Removal] activated!"

Last turn, Chronos sent Ancient Grinding Dragon to the graveyard with Ancient Excavator, but that wasn't the main graveyard. Its effect was to search the deck for a Spell Card and set it to the back row. After a turn of preparation, that Spell Card was ready to be activated, and it was the signature card of the Mech-type decks that best suited an aggressive deck like Ancient Grinding Dragon—Limit Removal!

"Under the effect of [Limit Removal], although the monsters on my field that benefit from its effect will be destroyed at the end of the turn, I can use the effect of [Ancient Machine Resurrection] again next turn to revive [Ancient Machine Thermonuclear Dragon]. And the ability of [Limit Removal] is to double the ATK of all Machine-Type monsters on my field!"

But just as Chronos opened the cover, a sharp arrow struck the opened [Restriction Release] button.

"Mr. Chronos, you haven't forgotten the effect of [Wandering Griffin Knight] that I used once before, have you? When a [Brave Token] is on the field, and the effect of a Spell/Trap/Monster is activated, return [Wandering Griffin Knight] to my Deck, negate it, and destroy it!"

"The stronger one is, the more vulnerable one is; this is the truth of this land." Riding his griffin into the air, the cat-man knight swooped down. "Listen to my command, Mon3tr!"

The griffin's swooping attack from high above precisely struck the arrow's tail. The immense force of the attack instantly shattered Chronos's [Restriction Release]. As a consequence, the [Wandering Griffin Knight], which had only been on the field for a short time, returned to Hayato's deck to recuperate.

Meanwhile, the [Hero Specimen] and the [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] also clashed. Compared to the [Hero Specimen], which received buffs from its companions, the [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon], despite having a slight boost from the [Ancient Mechanical Resurrection], ultimately could not withstand the sharpness of the [Holy Sword of Light - Dannel] without the [Restriction Removal].

The molten nuclear breath spewed from its mouth clashed with the holy sword for only a moment before being sliced ​​open and shattered into pieces, destroying the body of the [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon]. However, due to the disappearance of the [Wandering Griffin Knight], the [Hero Derivative] swung the holy sword with slightly less force in the final moment of destroying the [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon].

[Hero Derivatives] (Dragon Rider - Dragonbearer, Holy Sword of Light - Dannel) [ATK 5000 → 4500]

"Well!"

[Kronos: 3200→1900]

"Because [Wandering Griffin Rider] disappeared from the field, the power provided to [Holy Sword of Light - Dannel] decreased by 500 points?" Chronos glanced at his remaining Life Points, breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Hayato, "Despite using all means, [Ancient Mechanical Thermonuclear Dragon] was still destroyed by your [Hero Token], Mr. Danrito. However, due to the effect of [Concentrated Socket], your [Ruins Mine Warrior] on the field can no longer directly attack me, who has no means of counterattack."

"It seems this duel isn't over yet."

Hearing Chronos's words, Hayato shook his head and said, "No, it's over. It ended the moment your base score dropped below 2300."

Although the last card remaining in his hand—[Concentrated Current]—had already been played in the previous battle, there was still a face-down card in Hayato's back row, which was activated when he pressed the activation button.

The [Ruins Mine Warrior], who was celebrating the hero's great victory once again, discovered that an iron ring had been inexplicably put around his neck, with a ring of grenades hanging from it.

"Trap Card [Destruction Wheel]: Destroy one face-up monster on the field, causing both duelists to take damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK." Hayato smiled brightly. "Destroying [Brave Token] will also clear my Life Points, and Mr. Chronos, your monsters all have the resistance granted by [Ancient Machine Fortress], so I guess I can only save this card for [Ruins Mine Warrior].

【The Demonic Mine Warrior of the Ruins】【ATK2300】

"Wait, wait a minute, Hero! I haven't had a chance to celebrate yet—"

"Self-destruct, [Ruins' Demonic Mine Warrior]! This is a necessary sacrifice!"

"Ugh!"

"boom!"

As the [Ruins' Demonic Mine Warrior] self-destructed, the shockwave attacked both Hayato and Chronos simultaneously. Hayato, who still had 3800 base points remaining, was naturally unaffected by the damage. However, Chronos, who only had 1900 base points, had his entire base points wiped out by the 2300 damage!

"Mamma mia!"

[Kronos: 1900LP→0]

Chapter 1016 Liberating, and then getting used to it.

"I won! What an interesting duel!"

Hayato finished the duel with a satisfying self-destruction, and said contentedly to Chronos.

Please, it's super satisfying to blow up someone's base score by 2000+ in one go, right? Anyway, Hayato is entertaining. As for whether the "destroyed" [Ruins Mine Warrior] and Chronos are happy or not? Who cares.

However, although he was ultimately defeated by Hayato using the "Destruction Wheel," a non-direct combat method, Chronos showed no dissatisfaction. He simply said with some disappointment, "Looks like my skill level isn't quite up to par, no way. I was defeated in just three rounds..."

But after the brief disappointment of being outmatched, Chronos quickly recovered and looked at Hayato, saying, "However, I've actually been aware of this for a while now, you know, that my talent is limited. No matter how much I love Duel Monsters, love can't make up for a lack of talent."

"Compared to those who solve Duel Monsters, it also makes me very happy to see other people with excellent talents who are climbing to higher levels in Duel Monsters." Chronos smiled warmly. "You're right, Mr. Dan Rito, this is truly an interesting duel."

Although his attitude was quite good, Hayato still turned his head away from Chronos's wrinkled face, which resembled a chrysanthemum, because Chronos's appearance was really not good: "Ahaha, it's good that you think that way."

"But I don't find it interesting at all!" Hayato complained from the cards he was putting away, "The Hero has so many more tricks up his sleeve and can unleash much more powerful attacks, so why does he like to unleash his power so much!"

[Disruption·Huang] gave him a strange look: "First time?"

[Disruption·Green]: "You're obviously a newbie, unlike the rest of us, who have been with Ani since the very beginning."

【Disruption·Black】: "As you keep liberating yourself, you get used to it without even realizing it~"

Although Hayato added her to his deck, the Half-Dragon Maid, who didn't get a chance to play, said with a grin, "It's great, everyone's been freed up."

Hayato put the cards into the card holder at his waist, using this action as a cover to toss the noisy spirits and their cards into the system's storage. At the same time, he seemed to remember something and looked at Chronos, asking, "Speaking of which, Mr. Chronos, you mentioned before that you're actually unemployed right now, right?"

“Because my family is wealthy, I don’t need to work to make a living, so for me, the important thing about work is not the salary but the meaning.” Chronos shrugged. “However, I haven’t found a job that is meaningful enough for me to devote my energy to, so I’m currently unemployed. Rather than going to work and earning meaningless money, I’d rather travel to places that satisfy my hobbies.”

Listening to Chronos's almost Versailles-like remarks, Hayato smiled and said, "In that case, I think I might be able to recommend you for a job, because through this duel, I believe you are very suitable for this job, and I'm sure you will be satisfied with it."

Hayato's words piqued Chronos's curiosity: "So what kind of job is it, Mr. Dan Rito?"

"Well, I actually need to contact other people first before I can give you a definite answer, so please allow me to keep you in suspense for now," Hayato said after thinking for a moment. "Since we've agreed to go to that monastery together tomorrow, I'll reveal the answer tomorrow morning."

Although he didn't really need a job, Chronos couldn't help but feel a little curious about the details of the mysterious job Hayato had mentioned. As he had said before, he valued the meaning of work more than salary, since he wasn't short of money. If he had to choose between a boring but high-paying job and a job with a lower salary but that made him feel that his efforts were meaningful, he would choose the latter without hesitation.

But he could understand what Hayato was saying. Even if he were to recommend a job, he would first have to check if the job was still available and negotiate with the person who hired him to arrange for someone to take the job. In addition, without knowing the specific job details, Chronos couldn't be sure if he would really be interested in the job. Therefore, he wasn't in a hurry and nodded, indicating that he was willing to wait until tomorrow morning for Hayato to tell him the result.

Even after the two had finished their hand of cards, the heavy rain outside showed no sign of stopping, continuing to pour down. The slightly gloomy sky, like a cloak, draped over this remote English town along with the rain curtain. In the distance, the church tower could still be vaguely seen.

On the street, a few travelers were wandering aimlessly under their umbrellas, enjoying the rainy scenery without too many people bothering them. However, Hayato didn't have any artistic interests, and Chronos was even less so. But it was a bit early to go rest now, so the two of them simply sat in a bar and watched the resident singer perform to pass the time.

With nothing else to do, Hayato inquired with Chronos about the Glastonbury Abbey they were going to visit the next day. He learned that this seemingly obscure abbey was actually associated with a legendary figure who was a household name in England and famous throughout Europe and even the world.

"Hayato Kobayashi, are you awake?" Kaiba's voice came through Hayato's phone, sounding impatient. "Let's not even worry about whether King Arthur, who is just a legend, was a real historical figure. No matter how you look at it, King Arthur couldn't possibly be a woman."

"Iso, reduce the power output of power supply unit number three by 50%!"