Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Furthermore, Daitokuji hadn't forgotten that the Dragon Rider summoned by [Spiral Fusion] could attack again. If the target was any monsters on his field with only 500 DEF, even if his starting Life Points were doubled to 8000 instead of 4000, it wouldn't be enough!

No wonder Hayato was so decisive when using [Red Reboot], because he knew that even if he spent 2000 base points in one go, the speed would not be able to keep up with the speed at which he deducted base points from Daitokuji Temple in battle.

"A second attack! You have nowhere to retreat, Daitokuji! Golden Cavalry Spin, Spiral Fusion Propulsion! 990,000 horsepower!" Hayato pointed at the [Alchemy Beast - Mercury Remora] he had failed to attack earlier, "[Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia] Attack [Alchemy Beast - Mercury Remora], Whale Kill... Remora Fist!"

Midway through, Hayato temporarily modified the move's name based on the fish's species, commanding [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] to unleash a devastating attack on Daitokuji. However, the very next moment after Hayato gave the command, his extraordinary wisdom as a duelist warned him that something dangerous was about to emerge.

It's a face-down card from the back of Daitoku-ji Temple! While he can't be 100% sure which of the remaining two face-down cards it is, Hayato is certain that the danger comes from one of them.

Furthermore, based on Hayato's experience of being frequently blown up by Yugi's Hanno's supreme power, he could also tell that it was not a card that destroyed monsters, but something more like a dangerous attack that could be deflected!

As the attack from [Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia] approached, noticing Hayato's furrowed brow, Daitokuji said frankly, "As expected of Mr. Hayato, you sensed my hidden killing blow even though there was no trace of it."

"But it was too late. The moment you used Red Reset to pay Life Points in an attempt to stop my 'powerful enemy blocking my way' and end the duel with one blow while minimizing the changes, I had already grasped the key to victory!"

As Daitokuji pressed the button to activate the card draw, Hayato saw a card that looked ordinary but was actually more terrifying than 100,000 murderers!

"Trap Card [Dimensional Mirror]: You can activate this card by banishing two monsters I control—[Alchemy Beast - Mercury Remora] and [Alchemy Beast - Silver Moonface]—and then targeting one face-up monster your opponent controls!"

Daitokuji waved his hand, "Targeting Mr. Hayato's [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia], after activating [Dimensional Mirror], transform it into an Effect Monster with the same ATK and DEF as [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia], and Special Summon it in Attack Position within my Monster Zone!"

Suddenly, the two monsters on the ground of Daitokuji Temple dissolved into nothingness. In the chaos in front of the charging [Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia], a mirror made of silver and mercury suddenly appeared. Before [Gaia] could stop, he had already passed through the seemingly non-existent mirror.

Synchronized with Gaia's movements, another entity, Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia, appeared in the mirror he passed through, seemingly mirror-like, only reversed from left to right.

【Dimensional Reflector】【4☆/Dark】

[Mage/Trap]

【？ /？ →7800/7800】

"They actually stole Gaia's attack power?!"

Hearing Hayato's surprised voice, Daitokuji said, "Because I wasn't sure if you, Mr. Hayato, had any way to counter trap cards, I tried to lure you into using your hand with [A Mighty Enemy Blocking the Way], and sure enough, you used a powerful card like [Red Reboot]. Now, Mr. Hayato, you shouldn't have a second [Red Reboot], right?"

"The follow-up effect of [Dimensional Reflector] is activated if this card is Special Summoned, inflicting damage to the opponent's Duelist equal to this card's ATK!" Daitokuji said, pointing at Hayato. "Because of the monster's transformation, the attack reversal is triggered. Mr. Hayato, you can use [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] to destroy [Dimensional Reflector] together."

"But before that, this 7800-point effect damage will wipe out your life points. Even if you use a card like [Mysterious Chinese Pot] to release [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia], you will be unable to destroy my [Dimensional Reflector]!"

"This is what they call a 'general'!"

It's clear that Daitokuji's tactics emphasize stability. The earlier "Blocking Enemy" was specifically designed to force out Hayato's hand traps, and he then orchestrated "United Front" to counter the seemingly invincible "Red Reboot." If "Blocking Enemy" had been replaced with "Dimensional Mirror," while Hayato would have been successfully countered and lost the duel if he had still used "Red Reboot," the effect of "Dimensional Mirror" would have been wasted if Hayato had used a Spell Card or Monster Effect.

Daitokuji preferred to use a formidable foe to scout ahead, sacrificing a full 3000 HP to bait out Hayato's "Red Reboot" before activating the "Dimensional Reflector" only after the "Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia's" attack power had increased to a whopping 7800. The "Dimensional Reflector," with its 7800 attack power, reflected a staggering 7800 points of damage, leaving the enemy in a difficult position.

If Hayato uses his usual strategy of releasing [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] to activate [Mysterious China] and recover his base points, he can certainly offset the high amount of effect damage. However, in return, Hayato will lose a powerful offensive tool and will instead give Daitokuji a powerful monster with both attack and defense points of 7800.

But without the [Mysterious Chinese Pot], what other way is there to block a full 7800 points of effect damage in one go?

The answer is definitely yes!

“You call this ‘Checkmate’? You’re mistaken, Daitokuji. Compared to a so-called ‘Checkmate’ that completely shuts down the opponent, this is clearly a case of miscalculation, a ‘mistake’!” Hayato said, playing a card from his hand. “After so many duels with Kaiba, I’ve already used up most of his dropped cards. Although Kaiba usually uses this card with [Destruction Wheel], its effect has never been tied to [Destruction Wheel].

"If [Dimensional Mirror] is successfully Special Summoned, this effect activates: I chain this Quick-Play Spell Card [Defense Wheel] from my hand, reducing the damage of Trap Card effects to 0!"

The Trap Card [Destruction Wheel] has the ability to destroy a target monster and cause both monsters to take damage equal to its attack power. It can be used to trade Life Points or, at worst, to achieve mutual destruction. It is one of the commonly used mysterious face-down card combinations in Kaiba's decks.

When the monster on the field has low attack power and there are two face-down cards, the most common combination is a combination of cards like "Deck Destruction Virus" and "Shrink". However, if the monster remaining on the field has high attack power and is not "Blue-Eyes", then the two face-down cards in the back row are most likely a combination of "Destruction Wheel" and "Defense Wheel".

Detonating a powerful monster to make the necessary sacrifice, using the Defense Wheel to protect yourself and only attack the opponent duelist—what a wonderful combination! Even Hayato couldn't help but feel excited. However, the problem is that the Defense Wheel in Kaiba's hand is very different from the Defense Wheel in the actual card.

The former can simply block the damage from [Destruction Wheel] on its own, but the latter's effect becomes purely "making the damage caused by the effect of a trap card zero", which works on both sides and turns the [Destruction Wheel] cooperative tactic into a means as pure as [Lightning Strike], which is extremely regrettable.

(The destroyed monster: What are you lamenting about!?)

The [Dimensional Reflector] transformed into a mirror called [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] – let's call it "Dragon Fang" for now. It raised its spear and thrust out a soulless spear-shaped beam of light towards Hayato, but it was completely blocked by a ring composed of four shields that appeared in front of Hayato.

"Hoo hoo hoo, you mere spearman, you think you can break through my 'Sevenfold Blazing Sky Ring'? No way!"

[Hayato: 2000→2000LP]

"You even have a [Defense Wheel]... It's not that easy to defeat you, Mr. Hayato. Of course, if it were that easy, you wouldn't be the 'Duel King'." Seeing Hayato's life points remain unchanged, Daitokuji was somewhat disappointed, but only slightly. "So, are you going to attack? Will you use your [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] and [Dimensional Reflector] to take him down with you?"

“Although we cannot survive without fighting, I am a kind-hearted person. How could I bear to watch Longya, who looks just like my dragon knight, be destroyed by battle?” Hayato shook his head. “Because of the battle rollback, I cancel the attack declaration of [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia].

Hearing Hayato's words, Daitokuji regretfully removed his finger from the button to activate the face-down card. Although it was initially prepared for the [Golden Artificial Lifeform], the [Forbidden Cloth] could also be used just now. If Hayato had used [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] to attack "Dragon Fang", he could have seized the opportunity to reduce the attack power of [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] and destroy it.

"My Battle Phase ends, and then in Main Phase Two, I activate the effect of [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia]." Despite saying he couldn't bear to destroy "Dragon Fang," Hayato immediately activated the monster's effect after declaring the end of his Battle Phase: "Reduce its ATK by 2600, and destroy [Dimensional Mirror] on your field!"

"Huh? Didn't you just say you couldn't bear it?"

Upon hearing Daitokuji's words, Hayato, with a serious expression and his back to him, replied, "Ah, that's why I turned my head away and didn't look anymore."

Rather than riding a mount and thrusting upwards with perfect harmony using spiral force, the true way to use the spear in the hands of [Dragon Knight Gaia] is to throw it. Only when the spear is freed from the constraints of the body can it enter a truly perfect golden spiral state.

"Just for me, use Final Descent on 'Dragon Fang,' [Gaia]," Hayato commanded. After a quick aim, [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] steered her dragon, accelerating into a cavalry swivel before throwing her lance. "My lance reaches all things!"

【Dragon Knight - Gaia】【ATK7800→5200】【ATK7800→5200】

However, the cavalry's maneuver was ultimately blocked by a white curtain. Daitokuji managed to activate the Forbidden Cloth at the last moment, thanks to Hayato's words and the fact that he had almost missed his chance due to a moment of carelessness.

"Chain the effect of [Dragon Knight - Gaia] to activate my backrow face-down card [Forbidden Cloth]. Reduce the ATK of [Dimensional Mirror] by 600 until the end of this turn, making it untargetable by card effects and undestroyable by card effects!"

【Dimensional Reflector】【ATK7800→7200】

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Daitokuji glanced at Hayato, who had turned back with a disgruntled expression, and thought to himself, "What talk of being reluctant? He didn't hesitate at all when he started."

"However, to be fair, it's precisely because I know that Mr. Hayato's duels almost always involve the strategy of releasing monsters that I included this 'Dimensional Reflector' in my deck. It's really useful! With this card, I can utilize the otherwise almost useless 'Alchemy Beast' to defeat any powerful monster."

Thank you, Pegasus.

Chapter 1036 A Higher Ritual More Powerful Than the Tucker Gun

【Dragon Demon Knight - Gaia】The spear that was thrown out as if in a death struggle was blocked by 【Forbidden Cloth】, which made Hayato feel a little regretful. He had used up all his current resources, but in the end he still couldn't kill Daitokuji in one turn.

The Gaia deck has two Field Spell Cards to choose from. If Hayato had drawn another Field Spell Card, "Broken Gaia," instead of "Chaos Field," during the Battle Phase, which prevents the opponent from activating their effects as long as "Dragon Knight Gaia" is on his field, Daitokuji wouldn't have even had a chance to activate his previous "Blocking Enemy."

Furthermore, [Chaos Field] has a search effect when activated, and [Broken Gaia] also has a search ability. Moreover, it is not limited to [Dark Knight Gaia], but can even freely search for level 5 Dragon monsters used during fusion. In addition, this search effect can be used once per turn.

Unfortunately, there are no ifs, and Hayato activated [Chaos Field] instead of [Broken Gaia]. However, even with [Chaos Field], there is one effect that Hayato has not yet used.

"The third effect of the Field Spell Card [Chaos Field] can be activated once per turn. You can remove three Spell Counters from this card to activate this effect and add one Ritual Spell Card from my Deck to my hand."

[Chaos Field]: Magic Indicator 3 → 0

"A Ritual Spell Card?" Daitokuji was puzzled by Hayato's words. He recalled that the Dark Knight Gaia deck was supposed to focus on Fusion Summoning. "Why would a Ritual Spell Card appear in a 'pure Gaia deck'?"

"Yes, why? I'm looking for the reason too." Hayato said, as the Duel Disk was lifted, the deck in the slot was shuffled, and a card was automatically retrieved and drawn by him.

As Hayato drew his card, Daitokuji confirmed that Hayato only had one card left in his hand besides the Ritual Spell Card he had just retrieved. He guessed, "With only one card in his hand, is that a Ritual Monster? In other words, Mr. Hayato, are you planning to release your [Dragon Spell Knight - Gaia] as a tribute for a Ritual Summon?"

"Although this card in my hand is indeed a Ritual Monster, who said I was going to release [Gaia]? He's my beloved friend, my brother!" Hayato said, flipping the Ritual Spell Card he had retrieved over to show Daitokuji. "It seems that relying solely on Fusion won't be enough to defeat you. In that case, I must immediately abandon my old friend Fusion Summoning and join the noble Ritual!"

"I searched for this [Advanced Ritual Spell] to add to my hand, and I'm activating it immediately!"

As Hayato activated his Ritual Spell Card, a magic circle surrounded by leaping flames appeared before him, the kind that only appears when summoning a Ritual Monster. He only needed to fill it with a monster of a sufficient level to summon the Ritual Monster. However, unlike a normal ritual, the light of the sacrifice that was to be offered did not appear in Hayato's hand. Instead, five-colored lights shone from Hayato's deck.

"The so-called 'Advanced Ritual' is a noble ritual. You ask me what makes it noble? It is noble because it is different from those lowly rituals. 'Advanced Ritual' can use normal monsters from my deck as tributes for a ritual, until a Ritual Monster of equal level is Ritual Summoned from my hand."

With a flick of his Duel Disk, Hayato unleashed five beams of light from his deck, shouting, "I'm sending these three lowly monsters to the Graveyard: the invincible Level 1☆ [White Rabbit], the Level 1☆ [White Bone] with immense potential, and the Level 2☆ [Disruptor Yellow], [Disruptor Green], and [Disruptor Black] for leveling up! My total Level is now 8☆!"

"That's discrimination, ahni-gei!" X3

Amidst the complaints of the three brothers, Hayato sends five Normal Monster cards from his deck to the Graveyard in one go to perform a high-level ritual. The power of the five monsters transforms into streams of light that flow into the array in front of Hayato, awakening the power of the Ritual Monster in Hayato's hand.

"A Level 8 Ritual Monster..." Daitokuji recalled for a moment, then suddenly remembered the existence of [Chaos Warrior]. It was indeed closely related to [Dark Knight Gaia], and it was even mentioned when Hayato activated the Field Spell Card [Chaos Field] that it had the ability to search for [Chaos Warrior] Ritual Monsters. "Could it be that I'm going to summon that?"

However, while the Chaos Warrior can be considered a very powerful monster, it is ultimately only comparable to regular monsters. How can it compare to the Dimensional Mirror, which stole the 7800 attack power of the Dragon Knight Gaia?

Furthermore, Hayato's Battle Phase has already ended, so if he had performed a Ritual Summon during Main Phase 1 before the Battle Phase, it might have been somewhat useful. However, during Hayato's Main Phase 1, his Field Spell Card [Chaos Field] only has two Spell Counters, which is insufficient to activate its effect and search for Ritual Spell Cards.

Although Daitokuji didn't reveal that the ritual monster he guessed was [Chaos Warrior], Hayato nodded and held up the ritual monster card in his hand: "That's right, the one I'm summoning is this powerful 8-star monster with classic ATK and DEF values ​​of 3000 and 2500!"

"O ancient divine bird that has seen through everything, awaken through this ancient secret art, and compose a song of the soul with your unparalleled wisdom!"

"Ritual Summoning! [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock]!"

As Hayato played the card, a girl dressed in a peacock feather pattern appeared in the summoning circle in front of him. She was dressed like a princess, and her ethereal气质 (qi zhi - a kind of refined elegance or aura) was like that of a goddess from heaven. She appeared with her eyes closed, and after opening them, she looked around, her eyes revealing a pure innocence untouched by the corruption of wisdom.

This surprised Hayato, who glanced at her somewhat. Although she hadn't fully developed a spiritual self, had she already vaguely awakened some consciousness? This was the first time Hayato had used her since he drew [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock] in the limited-time promotion offered by the system shop.

Hayato felt a bit annoyed at the thought of the so-called "promotions" in the system shop. It was after his duels with Ayakashi, Yugi, and Atem during the GeneX tournament. In addition to settling the long-delayed limited-time mission "The Pharaoh's Judgment" for Hayato, the system had also kindly opened a so-called reward card pool.

It is said that as long as you invest 10000 DP points in one go, in addition to the basic card opening and card drawing, you can also get a free bonus pack. Although there is only one card in it, it guarantees that you will get a UR rarity card that Hayato does not have.

Upon learning of this promotional event, which was practically free, and confirming that the bonus packs could contain cards related to "birds" and "gods," Hayato seemed to have entered a state of blissful oblivion, completely forgetting his past failures in the gacha pool and decisively investing the DP points he had painstakingly accumulated. After all, look, it's both "gods" and "birds"—it's practically a direct reference to [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra].

Then, considering that he already had cards like the [Divine Flame Cannon] which were associated with [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra], he figured the system must have felt guilty about its past actions and had a change of heart, so it decided to give him the last card related to [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra], as well as [Osiris the Sky Dragon] and [Obelisk the Tormentor], namely [Halakti, the Creator God of Light].

Although he only had [Ra's Winged Dragon of Ra] left, and the other two God Cards had been buried underground with Atem, meaning that even if Hayato obtained [Halakti, the Creator of Light], he couldn't use it, it was still a good deal to get one more card. Thinking about it that way, the system was actually quite nice.

The result was that Hayato summoned the [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock], a card based on the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, combined with the imagery of the Peacock Flying Southeast. It's related to a "god," and the peacock is a "bird"—it makes perfect sense, it makes perfect sense...

...Bullshit! There's no [Creator of Light - Harakti] in the card pack at all! Damn it, refund my money!

【Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock】【8☆/Wind】

[Bird/Beast Race/Ritual/Soul/Effect]

[2500/3000]

When Daitokuji saw Hayato pull out a [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock] instead of the promised "pure [Gaia] deck", he couldn't help but complain: "This is your 'pure [Gaia] deck', Mr. Hayato. It fits my stereotype of you perfectly."

"Tsk, Gaia has fought for me for so many years, can't I enjoy it a bit? What's wrong with having a couple in my deck?" Hayato said, raising his hand, "[Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock] cannot be Special Summoned without Ritual Summoning, but its first effect can only be activated if it is successfully Ritual Summoned, selecting up to three Spell/Trap Cards from the opponent's field and returning them to their owner's Deck!"

"Not destruction or banishment, but a more disgusting return to the deck!?" Upon hearing Hayato's words, Daitokuji immediately looked at his Duel Disk, but his gaze was not on the only Trap Monster, "Dragon Fang," which was mimicked by "Dimensional Mirror," but rather on the seemingly useless "Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refining" in his back row. Only on second glance did he look at "Dragon Fang."

Seeing that "Dragon Fang" currently has an attack power of 7200 points instead of the 7800 points it had when it was copied, and recalling the card he had just used, Daitokuji said, "However, because of the effect of [Forbidden Cloth], [Dimensional Mirror] will not be the target of any effect or be destroyed by any effect until the end of this turn."

"Hoo hoo hoo, the effect of [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock] is noble and indiscriminate; [Forbidden Saint Cloth] is nothing but trash in front of her~, and the trap monster 'Dragon Fang' transformed from [Dimensional Reflector] is also trash~"

With hands on his hips as arrogantly as a subspecies of a female imp—the Card Imp—Hayato pointed at the only two cards on Daitokuji's field and said, "I'm going to kick the two cards that are considered trap cards, [Dimensional Reflector] and [Alchemy Cauldron - Chaos Refining], back into your deck."

Go back to the woman!

With a wave of his long sleeves, [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock], under Hayato's command, easily manipulated the power of the storm to create a gale that swept towards the cards on Daitokuji's field. The [Forbidden Cloth] that had previously caught the javelin of [Dragon Magic Knight - Gaia] could not protect "Dragon Fang" this time. It was swept up by the storm and blown back to Daitokuji's deck along with the huge distillation cauldron.

In the blink of an eye, the grounds of Daitoku-ji Temple were completely empty!

“If this effect were played during the main phase, it would be a decisive blow, but unfortunately, it can’t be traded.” Hayato said, raising his hand again. “But it’s not over yet. The effect of [Soul Bird God - Princess Peacock] has follow-up processing. I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Soul Monster from my Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.”

"The monster I want to Special Summon is this one, the place where the sun dwells, [Heavenly Rock]!"

The storm that swept across Daitoku-ji Temple swirled back into Hayatoba, turning into a whirlwind as it whipped up sand and stones. At that moment, a massive rocky mountain appeared in Hayatoba, emanating an inexplicable oppressive atmosphere.

【Ten-Iwato】【4 stars/location】