Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"During both players' turns, I will Tribute [Mirror Sword Knight] to activate its effect, and Special Summon a monster with the [Fusion] card name other than one [Mirror Sword Knight] from my Deck."

"The monster I want to Special Summon is this one, [Baphomet the Great]!"

"Whoosh!" With a strange cry, the [Mirror Sword Knight], modeled after the Mayan god of smoke mirrors, shattered and disappeared just like the [Cornfield Feathered Serpent God]. From the broken mirror, accompanied by the Ryuki BGM that suddenly rang out on Hayato's Duel Disk, the goat-headed demon Baphomet with a pair of wide wings descended!

Chapter 1050 I Have Already Grasped the Future in My Hands

【Baphomet the Great Wing】【5☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[1400/1800]

If Hayato remembers correctly, there is indeed a card called "Baphomet" in the game's deck, and like the "Great Winged Baphomet" in front of him, it is a Level 5 DARK Fiend-Type monster with the exact same ATK and DEF values.

“That’s right, just as you thought, Hayato Kobayashi. The [Great Winged Baphomet] before you is also part of the deep, dark fantasy that has flowed into the inner world, another form of the Duel Monster [Baphomet] known throughout the world.” Darkness opened its skeletal hand, “Tremble before this power from another world!”

Upon hearing this, Hayato replied with a serious expression, "Is that so? Just as I thought—you really are Baphomet, aren't you? You even summoned yourself to the field!"

"No way! How many times do I have to tell you before you understand, you stupid human!"

Darkness felt he was about to lose his temper and said angrily, "I will use the effect of [Baphomet the Great Wing] to activate if this card is Normal or Special Summoned. I will add one Level 4 Beast Monster and one [Fusion Beast] from my Deck to my hand."

"I add [Mega Fusion] and [Phantom Claw King Gazel] to my hand, and activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Mega Fusion] to send [Phantom Claw King Gazel] from my hand and [Great Winged Baphomet] from the field as Fusion Materials to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon this monster from my Fusion Deck!"

"The illusions lurking in the darkness of the world, the power of the rules will awaken the demons that no longer exist in this world, and make them submit to me!"

Just like the fusion combination of [Gazelle the Beast King] and [Baphomet], [Gazelle the Claw King] and [Baphomet the Great Wing] are also a pair of fusion material monsters. Under the effect of that [Melting Beast Fusion] card, the four-armed winged goat-headed demon and the lion-like monster are fused into one and descend onto Darkness's field.

"Fusion Summon! [Phantom Beast King - Chimera]!"

Beneath its angelic white wings lies a ferocious beast, like a lion, on all fours. Its most striking features are its two parallel heads and the snake-like head at the end of its tail, resembling the legendary chimera. Furthermore, sharing similar fusion materials, [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] also bears some resemblance to [Winged Phantom Beast - Chimera], a fusion monster created by fusing [Phantom Beast King - Gazel] and [Baphomet].

The same attack and defense power, the same level, the same race and attributes, the only difference is the extremely conspicuous sense of strangeness emanating from it, as if it were not of this world!

【King of Beasts - Chimera】【6☆/Wind】

[Orc/Fusion/Effect]

[2100/1800]

"If [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] is successfully Fusion Summoned, its effect will activate. During the End Phase of this turn, send one random card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard." Darkness pointed to Hayato's hand. "And if [Baphomet the Great Wing] and [Phantom Claw King - Gazel] are sent to the Graveyard as Fusion Material, their effects will activate. First, [Phantom Claw King - Gazel]'s effect: Add one Phantom Demon Monster from my Deck to my hand."

As he spoke, Darkness drew a card from thin air, printing cards without any pretense. "Next is the effect of [Great Winged Baphomet]: Target a Fantasy Demon monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. I choose [Mirror Sword Knight] in my Graveyard."

The [Mirror Sword Knight], which was previously released and sent to the graveyard, has reappeared on the Darkness field. Like [Phantom Beast King - Chimera], it is in Defense Position. Despite having a mere 300 Defense, which is far below its 1900 ATK, it is even weaker than [Disruption] monsters.

【Mirror Sword Knight】【DEF300】

"Because as long as [Beast King Chimera] exists on the field or in the graveyard, its card name is treated as [Winged Beast Chimera], and it uses the second effect of [Melting Beast Fusion] in my graveyard to be recycled to my hand during my Main Phase."

“Next, place four cards face-down on the back row, and my turn ends.” Darkness said, pointing at Hayato, “And because of the effect of [King of Beasts - Chimera], Hayato Kobayashi, one random card from your hand will be discarded and sent to the graveyard.”

It wasn't until Darkness announced the end of his turn that Hayato realized something—Darkness had used various Special Summons and Fusions since the start of the duel, and even after setting four cards face down, he still had three cards in his hand!

Or perhaps, the appearance of [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] suggests that he only used the card [Feathered Serpent in the Cornfield] to activate the entire game, and then he even managed to set up two monsters on the field and remove one card from his hand at the end of his turn?

Darkness, surprisingly, is quite powerful. Thinking this, Hayato saw one of his spell cards be selected by Darkness and sent to the graveyard.

But just as Darkness was watching Hayato's cards disappear into the graveyard, three cards stuck together popped out of Hayato's Duel Disk on their own and were caught by Hayato.

"Oh dear, you want to take away my hand? No way! It's bad enough that you don't let me gain cards, do you really want to make me lose cards?" Hayato raised his Duel Disk, and the phantom of the spell card that was sent to the Graveyard appeared behind him. "The card that was randomly sent to the Graveyard is this Normal Spell Card [Disruption Spell]. When this card is sent to the Graveyard from my hand or field, you can add three low-level monsters, [Disruption Green], [Disruption Yellow], and [Disruption Black], from my Deck to my hand."

"The more we try to extinguish hope, the more hope we humans will generate in such desperate situations, Darkness."

"Tch, the hope you speak of is just some lowly monster that doesn't even qualify as cannon fodder? Stop indulging in such unrealistic fantasies. The only end for humanity is destruction."

[Darkness: 4000LP, Hand: 3]

【Phantom Beast King - Chimera】【DEF1800】

【Mirror Sword Knight】【DEF300】

[Card Scan] [Card Cover] X4

The three brothers whose hand was filled with the "Disruption" card by Hayato were furious upon hearing Darkness's words: "It's fine if Annie calls us trash, but who is this guy who looks like a skeleton and dares to say such things?"

"Give it a good lesson, Annie, let it see our power!"

"Use us!"

"Shut up, you noisy minions." Hayato's response to the three [Disruption] brothers was to slap them back into their respective cards. Only after things quieted down a bit did he look at Darkness on the other side again.

“Everyone’s saying the future is only ruin. Dartz says so, Paradox says so, and you say so too. It’s really annoying.” Hayato picked at his ear and said nonchalantly, “But the future has never been fixed in the eyes of you ‘prophets,’ it’s right here.”

With his fingers resting on the duel disk, Hayato drew a card and said, "My turn, draw! A true duelist can decide the future of the card he draws, and right now, I've already grasped the future!"

"The spell card [Angel's Charity] is activated. Draw three cards from my deck and send the two weak cards [Disruption Black] and [Disruption Green] from my hand to the graveyard."

After changing his hand, Hayato looked at a card in his hand and decisively activated it: "Next, I activate the Equip Spell Card [Future Fusion] to send the fusion materials needed for the Fusion Monster from my deck to the Graveyard and fuse them in the future. The Fusion Monster I choose is this [Chimera Overload Dragon]."

Hayato took out a Fusion Monster card with a purple border and showed it to Darkness. "This card would be better for dealing with you, wouldn't it?"

"The Fusion Material requirement for 【Chimera Overload Dragon】 is 【Cyber ​​Dragon】 plus one or more Machine-Type monsters. I'm sending 【Cyber ​​Dragon】, 【A-Assault Core】, 【B-Destroyer Dragon】, and 【C-Crusher Wyvern】 to the Graveyard!"

"[Future Fusion]... Giving hope to a future that is nothing? What a foolish choice for humanity. But Hayato Kobayashi, how can you guarantee that [Future Fusion] will still be on your field during your next turn's preparation phase?" Darkness sneered.

Unexpectedly, Hayato shrugged and said, "Oh, whatever. Actually, I was just saying it casually. Who would place their hopes on the future? An incompetent parent who can't do anything themselves but wants their children to become dragons and phoenixes?"

"【Future Fusion】is just a pie in the sky to scare you. When I send the fusion materials to the graveyard, my graveyard is already full." As he spoke, Hayato took out three cards from the graveyard and said, "Excluding 【A-Assault Core】, 【B-Destroyer Dragon】, and 【C-Crusher Wyvern】 from my graveyard, this is a Triple Contact Fusion from the graveyard!"

"To protect world peace, courage and strength combined will ignite a revolution! Descend, messenger of love and peace!"

"【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】!"

The three machine monsters that emerged from Hayato's graveyard disintegrated themselves, and the green, purple, and yellow machine monsters recombined in a rather harmonious color scheme to form a mechanical dragon beast with two dragon heads, wings on its back, and moving on tracks while carrying two thick cannons.

【ABC-Dragon Annihilator】【8☆/Light】

[Mechanical Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3000/2800]

"Once per turn, discard one card from your hand and target one card on the field to activate the effect of [ABC-Dragon Annihilator]." Hayato sends [Disruption Yellow] from his hand to the graveyard as a cannonball, pointing at [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] on Darkness's field, "Since it's a mythical beast that no longer exists, then it should obediently get out of this world."

"Enter the Lotus Flower Calamity Pearl Cannon!"

As Hayato's discarded cards were replenished with energy, [ABC-Dragon Annihilator] aimed its cannon at [Phantom Beast King-Chimera] on Darkness's field, compressing and converging the intense vibrations into a sphere before launching it.

But at that moment, Darkness waved his hand and said, "In that case, I will activate the effect of [Feathered Serpent] in my graveyard. When [Winged Beast Chimera] is on my field and an effect targeting a card on my field is activated by my opponent, I will banish [Feathered Serpent] from the field or graveyard to negate and destroy that effect!"

Just before [ABC-Dragon Annihilator]'s attack was about to be unleashed, [Cornfield Quetzalcoatl], which had previously appeared near Darkness, suddenly appeared on Hayato's field and attacked [ABC-Dragon Annihilator]. Although it did not cause any damage, it successfully interfered with the reflection of the attack, detonating the attack that was supposed to hit [Phantom Beast King - Chimera]!

"boom!"

Using his Duel Disk to shield himself from the impact of the self-destructing [ABC-Dragon Annihilator], Hayato put down the Disk, removed the card, and sent it to the Graveyard, thinking: 'Can cards in the Graveyard also have banished effects? Since their prototypes are Quetzalcoatl and Smoke Mirror respectively, could the other [Mirror Sword Knight] have a similar effect?'

"I haven't performed a Normal Summon this turn. I'll Normal Summon 'Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl' from my hand and activate its effect to send the top three cards of my Deck to the Graveyard." Hayato tentatively performed a Normal Summon.

As Hayato played the card, Darkness spoke again, as expected: "When I have [Winged Beast Chimera] on my field, and a monster on your opponent's field activates its effect, I banish this [Mirror Sword Knight] from my field or Graveyard to activate it. Negate that effect."

After Darkness picked up the card of [Mirror Sword Knight] which was on Darkness's field, it crushed it. Suddenly, a beam of light fell from behind Darkness and shone on [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl], which had just entered the field and had not yet had time to use its effect to fill the graveyard.

"Quack! My eyes! Little Blue's eyes are going to go blind!" Covering her eyes, Little Blue crouched in place, unable to activate her effect at all.

【Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl】【DEF1600】

"You see, Kobayashi Hayato? Everything you did was within my expectations. You should have already realized my true identity, right? The unchangeable past, the predetermined present, and me, and that destined future, a future where humanity is doomed!"

Seeing Hayato's actions being interrupted by himself again, Darkness said, "The more humanity resists, the more it will fall into a hopeless future. On the contrary, accepting my destruction will preserve some peace of death."

"You're quite the braggart. In that case, can you guess which monster I'll be showing up next?"

Hayato didn't believe a word Darkness said. Instead, he drew a card and said, "I activate the Spell Card [Monster Gate]. I will Tribute [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl] on my field. When a monster that can be Normal Summoned appears, I will flip over the top card of my Deck and Special Summon that monster and send the rest of the cards to the Graveyard."

“Since Xiao Lan can’t help me build the grave, it means she’s no longer of any value. In that case…” Hayato said, mercilessly releasing Xiao Lan, “Let her sacrifice herself for the greater good!”

Chapter 1051 Another Form of Synthetic Beasts

"Let us sacrifice ourselves for the greater good!"

"Yameru!" Little Blue, whose eyes were still watering and hadn't recovered, wailed, but Hayato had already sent her to the graveyard to be freed. At the spot where she disappeared, a monster gate appeared, allowing Hayato to summon monsters.

Hayato flipped over the cards, and the top card of the deck was [Hellfire Machine - Satan]!

The second one is [Beelzebub, the Hellfire Machine]!

The third one is [Hellfire Machine Lucifer]!

The fourth one, [Hellfire Astaroth]!

The fifth image is [Hellfire Machine - Asmodeus]!

The sixth image is [Hellfire Machine - Lilith]!

After sending six Inferno monsters that couldn't be Normal Summoned to the Graveyard in a row, Hayato casually slammed the seventh card onto the Duel Disk. "Then this card, Inferno Decimal, Special Summon it to my field, and send another Inferno Baal from my Deck to the Graveyard. Increase the Level of Inferno Baal by 7 stars, and treat its name as Inferno Baal, gaining the same effect."

"If the combined Level of all Effect Monsters on my field is 8 or lower, banish the three Inferno monsters from my Graveyard: Inferno Satan, Inferno Beelzebub, and Inferno Lucifer!"

"Special Summon [Inferno Lilith] from my Graveyard, and upon successful Special Summon of [Inferno Lilith], activate its effect to destroy all Spell & Trap Cards on the field except for [Purgatory] cards!"

With his hand size reduced to the same four cards as Darkness, Hayato's offensive began anew. [Hellfire Machine Lilith], bathed in purple demonic flames, was resurrected from the graveyard and was about to unleash destructive fire upon the field!

Although the effect of [Hellfire Machine Lilith] will destroy Hayato's [Future Fusion] in the back row, at the same time, all five cards in Darkness's back row will also be destroyed!

Darkness, of course, wouldn't just stand by and watch [Hellfire Machine - Lilith]'s effect successfully activate. He immediately waved his hand and opened a card from his wings: "It's useless. Your attempt to destroy my backrow cards was part of the inevitable future. I already anticipated your plan! Activate the Continuous Trap Card [Chain of Demons]!"

"You can only activate this card by targeting an Effect Monster on the field. As long as this card is in the Spell & Trap Zone, that face-up monster cannot attack and its effects are negated."

Just as [Hellfire Machine Lilith] was about to unleash a burst of flames to incinerate all the spell and trap cards on both sides' fields, several chains suddenly shot out from the Darkness field, binding [Hellfire Machine Lilith] and immobilizing her, causing the flames she was about to unleash to be suppressed.

【Hellfire Machine - Lilith】(Demon Chain) 【ATK2900】

"【Hellfire Machine】...Hmph, you used these monsters to annihilate me last time, didn't you? But you've seen it, haven't you? Even these ferocious, demon-like monsters can't help you defy the inevitable future once again. Humanity will eventually meet its end. I am the inescapable destiny, I am the Great Cataclysm!"

"What Deathwing?" Hayato scoffed, looking at the restrained [Hellfire Lilith], but smiled contemptuously. "The [Demon Chain], which restricts both monster attacks and effects, is indeed a good choice, but what will you do if I unleash [Hellfire Lilith]?"

"Chain [Demon Chain]: Using the effect of [Inferno Baal] obtained from [Inferno Decimal], once per turn, I can Tribute one monster on my field, target one card in my opponent's Graveyard, and banish that card. This effect can also be activated during my opponent's turn."

"Release the bound [Hellfire Machine Lilith], except for [Great Winged Baphomet] in your graveyard!" Hayato's hand clenched in front of him. "Do you dare disobey me, who possesses the power of Baye?!"

The blue flames originating from the Hellfire Machine Baal ignited on the body of the [Hellfire Machine Lilith], which was bound by chains. The flames melted and burned the chains binding the [Hellfire Machine Lilith], and along with the flames, the [Great Winged Baphomet], who was sleeping in the Darkness Graveyard at the end of the [Demon Chains], was also ignited.

Just before leaving the field engulfed in flames, [Hellfire Machine - Lilith] didn't forget to unleash the flames she hadn't yet exhaled. In an instant, Hayato's [Future Fusion] in the back row and several cards in Darkness's back row were all wiped out—