Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

It wasn't damaged?

"Regarding Dartz, you claimed that [Hellfire Machine] was a monster born from your soul using the power of 'Orichalcos,' but that's not the case. It's just a card you obtained from who-knows-where." Darkness slightly raised her head, seemingly looking down arrogantly at Hayato. "As the darkness that flowed into the inner world, do you think I wouldn't possess the memories of Raferna, Dartz's subordinate who witnessed your duel with Yugi Muto and the others, shrouded in darkness?"

"The Quick-Play Spell Card [Called by the Grave] banishes [Inferno Lilith] from your Graveyard, negating its effects and those of other cards with the same name until the end of the next turn. I should have told you that all your actions are within the predetermined future."

Darkness's cold voice carried a hint of somberness, "The graveyard representing past memories will be erased by me, meaning that everything on the field will come to a standstill, and the future of your deck is destined for destruction."

Seeing his [Hellfire Machine Lilith] banished from his graveyard and its effects on destroying cards on the field nullified, Hayato raised an eyebrow: "You talk so big, but in the end you still have to sacrifice another version of yourself in your graveyard to save your backrow card? Also, being described as 'waiting for someone' will make Jonouchi angry."

"How many times do I have to tell you, with your level of stupidity that's beyond even the average human, before you understand that I have absolutely no connection to [Baphomet]!" Despite also being a winged goat-headed demon, Darkness seemed extremely resistant to being associated with [Baphomet] by Hayato. "As for Jonouchi Katsuya? Ha, when I destroy the world, all your familiar companions will only face one fate: swallowed by darkness and falling into a silent death!"

As for Hayato's statement about "The Named One of the Grave" excluding "Hellfire Baal" in Hayato's graveyard, while that would negate the effect of "Hellfire Decimal" which has acquired the name "Hellfire Baal," the problem is that the release of the "Hellfire" monster is not part of the effect but rather a cost. Even if it is hit by "Skill Drain," it can still send "Hellfire Lilith" to the graveyard, making the exclusion of "Hellfire Baal" completely meaningless.

Darkness, who wasn't lying and truly possessed Rafael's memories as she claimed, also didn't forget that the effect of the [Hellfire] monster jumping from the Graveyard wasn't limited to once per turn. Hayato had plenty of [Hellfire] monsters in his Graveyard, enough to support [Hellfire Lilith] to appear again. Naturally, he would use [Called by the Graveyard] to cleanly and decisively banish it to eliminate any future trouble.

"They actually banished my precious [Inferno Lilith]! Luckily, I had another one in my deck, otherwise it would have been terrible." After a pause, Hayato banished two more cards from his graveyard. "However, because [Inferno Lilith] left the field, if the combined Level of all the Effect Monsters on my field is 8 or lower, I banished two [Inferno] monsters from my graveyard: [Inferno Astaroth] and [Inferno Asmodeus]—"

Behind Hayato, the figures of two [Hellfire Machine] monsters that had been piled up in the graveyard appeared, then instantly shattered and disappeared. However, although their forms disappeared, the burning soul fire was still preserved, turning into blue flames that were confined within the lamp tube.

The demon of the storm has opened its eyes.

Special Summon! [Hellfire Machine - Baal]!

【Hellfire Machine - Baal】【ATK2600】

The consequence of Darkness not banishing [Inferno Baal] from Hayato's graveyard was that although Hayato couldn't resummon the banished [Inferno Lilith], [Inferno Baal] still had a chance to appear, and after it appeared, Hayato played another card from his hand:

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card 'Purgatory Dream', which reduces the Level of any 'Inferno' monster I control that was originally Level 2 or higher to Level 1 and halves the battle damage inflicted on my opponent. Then, I send the face-up 'Purgatory Dream' to the Graveyard and activate its second effect."

Pointing to [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] on Darkness's field, Hayato said, "I send the Fusion Materials of the [Inferno] Fusion Monster from my hand or field to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon that Fusion Material Monster from my Fusion Deck. If only my opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from their Fusion Deck, up to six monsters in my Deck can be used as Fusion Materials!"

"I'm sending eight monsters—a total of five different types—from my field (【Inferno Baal】, 【Inferno Decimal】, and from my deck (【Inferno Nava】, 【Inferno Lilith】, 【Inferno Admiral】, 【Inferno Baal】, 【Inferno Belphegor】, and 【Inferno Asmodeus】 to the Graveyard as Fusion Materials!"

"【Hellfire Machine - Tiera】, come and see the fodder you once devoured!"

Colorful flames surged into the core of the [Hellfire Machine - Decimal Tube]. The power of these flames was so great that even the surrounding black and purple barrier could not contain them. Gradually, the energy evolved into a huge entity that almost broke through the barrier!

Seeing this, Darkness quickly controlled the power of the barrier to compress it, barely managing to hold on so that it wouldn't be pierced by the monster summoned by Hayato. Only then did she have time to observe the giant monster that had appeared.

With its ominous blackish-purple right half, sacred pure white left half, four pairs of symmetrical diamond-shaped wings of light in different colors, long golden-red hair as holy as an angel draped behind its head, and a pair of scarlet bull horns that rise to the sky like a demon, this is the ultimate existence at the very top of the [Inferno] deck, the rare 11-star monster [Inferno Tierra]!

【Hellfire Machine - Tiera】【ATK3400】

"When [Inferno Tira] is successfully Fusion Summoned, this effect is activated. Since it uses five materials, each player selects three cards from their Fusion Deck and sends them to the Graveyard, as well as the top three cards of each player's Deck." Hayato had already selected the cards to send to the Graveyard. "The cards I choose to send to the Graveyard are these three: [Cyber ​​Dragon], [Shadowdome - Seven Sages Giant Kunma], and [XYZ - Dragon Cannon].

"So the Fusion Monsters I've chosen are these three: [Phantom Beast King - Chimera], [Phantom Beast Demon King - Baphomet], and [Winged Phantom Beast - Chimera]."

Hayato and Darkness each selected cards to send to the graveyard, and then sent the top three cards of their decks to the graveyard. After they finished filling their graveyards, Hayato said first: "Among the cards I sent to the graveyard, there is a Fusion Monster effect that has been activated!"

"Then when the effect of your chain monster is activated, I will also activate the effect of the Fusion Monster that was sent to the Graveyard."

"During my opponent's turn, I banish 'Baphomet' from my Graveyard, then target one of the banished Beast, Fiend, or Fantasy Demon monsters other than 'Baphomet' and Special Summon it." Darkness pulled a card from the void. "I Special Summon 'Baphomet the Great Wing,' which was previously banished."

The four-armed, winged goat-headed demon returned to Darkness's field in Defense Position. After Darkness, Hayato said, "Now let's deal with the effect of my [Shaddoll - Seven Sages Giant Giant Demon]. If this card is sent to the Graveyard, I will activate this effect, choose one [Shaddoll] card from my Deck or Graveyard and add it to my hand, and then choose one card from my hand and discard it."

"Add [Shaddoll Fusion] from my deck to my hand, and then send [Shaddoll Beast] from my hand to the graveyard."

Seeing Hayato discard the card, Darkness said, "After the chain is completed, if my [Great Winged Baphomet] is Special Summoned, this effect will activate, adding one Level 4 Beast-Type monster from my Deck and the last [Fusion Beast] from my Deck to my hand."

“You’re not the only one whose effect is affected. The effect of [Shadowdome] activates when this card is sent to the Graveyard by its effect: Draw one card from my Deck.” Seeing Darkness about to draw a card, Hayato also spoke up, drawing a card from his Deck.

It was like a mirror image; Hayato and Darkness sent cards to the graveyard together, activated the effects of monsters in the graveyard together, and drew cards from their decks together. Even their hands were now equal, each with five cards.

"Next, I will activate the Normal Spell Card [Shaddoll Fusion], send the Fusion Materials of the [Shaddoll] monster from my hand and field to the Graveyard, and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck. If there is a monster Special Summoned from the Fusion Deck on my opponent's field, you can also use monsters from my Deck as Fusion Materials."

Pointing to the [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] on Darkness's field, Hayato retrieved two cards from his deck and continued, "The Fusion Materials I'm choosing are these two monsters, [Shaddoll Dragon] and [Shaddoll Hound]!"

"Another fusion? Trying to summon greater hope by gathering power? But the greater humanity's resistance, the more painful its end will be." Darkness said, flapping his wings to reveal a face-down card, which was none other than the Quick-Play Spell Card he had used before, [Mega Fusion]. "Then I'll chain your [Shaddoll Fusion], activate face-down card, Quick-Play Spell Card [Mega Fusion]!"

"Send my [Greatwing Baphomet] on the field and [Phantom Claw King Gazel] in my hand as Fusion Materials to the Graveyard!"

Although the fusion materials were the same as in the previous turn, and even one was on the field and the other in the hand, when the two monsters merged under the effect of [Melting Beast Fusion], Hayato discovered that what was about to emerge from the vortex was not [Phantom Beast King - Chimera], but some other similar monster like [Winged Phantom Beast - Chimera].

"I've already said it, haven't I? The Fantasy Demons are monsters that don't exist in this world and were born from human imagination. If the [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] is a fusion form with the [Phantom Claw King - Gazel] as the main body during fusion, then there should naturally also be a fusion form with the [Great Winged Baphomet] as the main body, right?"

Darkness said, raising a hand: "Show yourself! A beast that is proud of possessing a berserk soul and the weapons of a ferocious phantom beast!"

"Fusion Summon! [Phantom Beast Demon King - Baphomet]!"

Unlike the crouching beast form of [Phantom Beast King - Chimera], the newly appeared fusion monster stands upright, each of its four arms, based on [Great Winged Baphomet], wields a short sword, pushing its aggression to the extreme. The ram's head and the lion's head are completely integrated, and its scarlet eyes exude a strong killing intent!

【Phantom Beast King - Baphomet】【6☆/Wind】

[Demon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[2400/600]

Chapter 1052 Playing with Xiaomi

【Phantom Beast King - Baphomet】【ATK2400】

Just as Darkness summoned another form of the synthetic beast, Baphomet, Hayato's Shaddoll Fusion also took effect, sending the two monsters he selected from the deck to the graveyard.

"Messenger from hell, manipulating the threads of fate, unleash an absolute lockdown in the darkest shadows!" Hayato placed a card on the Duel Disk. "Fusion Summon! Wagatsumashi! [Shadowdew—]"

From the shadows beneath Hayato's feet, a green-haired, mechanical girl appears on Hayato's field, manipulating a giant dragon beast with threads, confronting the monsters of Darkness.

"【Mid-Rush!】"

【Shadowbringer Midrash】【ATK2200】

Looking at the [Kamikage-Midrush] that appeared on Hayato's field, Darkness said with some disdain, "Although it was fused and summoned at the same time as me, it is obvious that [Phantom Beast King-Baphomet], which I fused and summoned, is stronger in both level and attack power."

"It's 4002 already, and you're still comparing attack power? Look at how pathetic you are when you summon that monster. My Mimi is much cuter than you. You win!" Hayato snapped his fingers, patting Mimi's head as she leaned in. "Besides, my Shaddoll Hound and Shaddoll Dragon, which were sent to the graveyard by Shaddoll Fusion, still have effects that can be activated."

"My [Great Winged Baphomet] and [Phantom Claw King Gazel], which were sent to the Graveyard as Fusion Material, also have their effects activated. In addition, [Phantom Beast Demon King Baphomet] can also activate its effect if it is Fusion Summoned." Darkness said, drawing a card from the void. "Based on the reverse chain principle, I use the effect of [Phantom Beast Demon King Baphomet] to send one Beast-Fire-Phantom Demon monster from my Deck to the Graveyard."

"Then comes the effect of [Great Winged Baphomet]: Special Summon a single Fantasy Demon monster in my Graveyard. Come forth, Hundred-Eyed Magician!"

"【The Illusionist Magician】!"

Within the surrounding dark purple space, countless eyes suddenly opened, resembling the "Millennium Eyes." These eyes converged on Darkness's field, forming a mage draped in a golden robe adorned with countless eyes, possessing a humanoid form rarely seen in Darkness's deck. However, its race was "Fantasy Demon," meaning this monster was also a fantasy monster from another world.

【The Illusionary Magician】【7☆/Dark】

[Fantasy Demon Race/Effect]

[2500/2000]

"You send a card to the Graveyard using the effect of [Baphomet the Beast King], and then Special Summon it from the Graveyard using the effect of [Baphomet the Great Wing]. This means that you can use the same combo to select different Fusion Monsters whether you go first or second."

Hayato didn't see when Darkness sent [Illusionary Magician] to the graveyard, but it was either the previous [Hellfire Machine Tiera] or the current [Phantom Beast Demon King - Baphomet], so it wasn't hard to guess. "But speaking of which, with a level 7☆ and 2500 attack power, are you some kind of protagonist's ace monster?"

Ignoring Hayato's complaints, Darkness pulled a card from the void. Despite the increasing number of monsters on the field, it still had a full five cards in its hand. Hayato, on the other hand, had reduced his hand to four cards because of activating [Shaddoll Fusion]: "Finally, it's the effect of [Phantom Claw King - Gazel], which adds a Phantom Demon monster from my deck to my hand."

Upon hearing that Darkness had finally dealt with its monster's effect, Hayato shrugged and said, "Next up are my [Shaddoll Hound] and [Shaddoll Dragon] effects. If [Shaddoll Hound] is sent to the Graveyard by its effect, you can change the battle position of one monster on the field. I've chosen [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] on your field."

“Then there’s the effect of [Shadowdome]: If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, target one Spell/Trap Card on the field and destroy it.” Pointing to the last face-down card on the field behind Darkness, Hayato said, “I choose to destroy your face-down card!”

The effect of [Shadow Dragon] is dealt with first. Manipulated by the threads of [Midrush], a dragon with a lion's head emerges from the shadow beneath its feet. Its mouth, which once breathed fire, now spews out shadows that corrode everything, aiming to destroy the face-down cards in Darkness's back row.

Rather than watch his card be destroyed, Darkness decisively activated his face-down card, saying, "In that case, before it's destroyed by your effect, activate my face-down card, the Trap Card [Lightning Break], discard one card from my hand, and target and destroy one card on the field!"

"The monster I choose to destroy is your [Inferno Tyella]!"

Darkness has not forgotten that last time, it was [Hellfire Machine Tiera], appearing in a different form, that killed him. If a human hadn't actively summoned him, he probably would have remained asleep for another three or four years before waking up. Naturally, he wouldn't miss such an opportunity to take revenge.

Furthermore, [Hellfire Tiera] is also the monster with the highest attack power on Hayato's field. Compared to [Illusion Magician] and [Baphomet], whose attack power is far lower than his own, and [Shadowy Midrash], which is only slightly higher than [Beast King Chimera], [Hellfire Tiera] is clearly a greater threat.

As the shadow spewed out by [Shadow Dragon] destroyed Darkness's face-down card, [Lightning Strike], which was activated at the cost of one of Darkness's cards, was also successfully activated. A bolt of lightning shot towards the energy shield above and then fell down again, but just as it was about to hit [Inferno Machine Tiera], it was blocked by the shadow of a phantom mechanical dragon.

"What?!"

Seeing Darkness's confusion, Hayato took out a card, held it between his fingers, and shook it, saying, "The cards sent to the graveyard by [Inferno Tyella] were carefully selected by me. The effect of [Cyber ​​Dragon] is to banish this card from the graveyard to activate this effect. During this turn, the Fusion Monsters on my field cannot be targeted by my opponent's effects or destroyed by their effects. I activated this before [Shaddoll Fusion], but obviously, you, without eyes, didn't seem to notice."

"Tch, it's a card that can remain active for an entire turn... But as long as it's not a targeting effect or an effect-destroying ability, it can still affect your monsters, right?"

Hearing Darkness's words, Hayato nodded: "That's true, but before that, change the battle position of your [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] from Defense position to Attack position."

Before Darkness could manipulate the cards on its wings, a large number of threads suddenly emerged from the shadow beneath [King of Beasts - Chimera]. The purple threads, pulled by [Shadowhound], forcibly controlled [King of Beasts - Chimera] on its field without Darkness's consent, changing it to attack position.

【Phantom Beast King - Chimera】【DEF1800→ATK2100】

Although [Phantom Beast King - Chimera]'s attack power is clearly higher than its defense power, stats are never necessarily better the higher they are; rather, they must be chosen according to the situation. At this moment, Hayato undoubtedly wants Darkness's monster to reveal its attack form so that it can use [Hellfire Machine - Tiera] to deal massive combat damage.

After glancing at the cards in his hand, Hayato waved his hand and said, "Next is this card, the spell card 'Pot of Greed.' It returns five monster cards from my graveyard to my deck, shuffles them, and then draws two cards from my deck."

Upon hearing Hayato's intention to reclaim resources from the graveyard, Darkness declared, "Then I'll chain [Pot of Greed], using the effect of [Phantom Beast King - Chimera] which was previously sent to the graveyard by [Hellfire Tiera], banishing it, and then targeting any Beast-type, Fiend-type, or Fantasy-type monster in my graveyard, Specializing that monster—"

Darkness raised his hand, trying to pull the card out of thin air, but after squeezing it several times, he found that, unlike before, no matter what he did, he couldn't banish the card "[Phantom Beast King - Chimera]" from the graveyard like before. He could banish "[Phantom Beast Demon King - Baphomet]" or other fantasy demon monsters to activate its effect before.

"Make that monster special, very special—"

Seeing Darkness stubbornly trying again and again, Hayato sneered, "The most important thing in life is to know how to be content and not be too greedy. This is Xiaomi; she's helping you break your bad habit of liking special summons. Quickly say thank you to Xiaomi."

Upon hearing this, Darkness looked at the green-haired mechanical girl, [Kamikage-Midrush], who should have been standing on the field but was now only having her own phantom dragon occupy a monster zone while she herself was nestled in Hayato's arms: "Which monster did this?"

"Bingo!" Hayato snapped his fingers and said with a smile, "Xiaomi's continuous effect means that as long as this card is in the Monster Zone, both players can only Special Summon a monster once per turn during that period. Even twenty years later, figuring out how to deal with Xiaomi is still a problem that plagues many people. Unfortunately, you've already used that one chance on [Illusion Magician].

"Then, let's continue with the effect of [Pot of Greed]. After returning [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon], [Shaddoll Dragon], [Shaddoll Hound], [Shaddoll Beast], and [Inferno Decimal] from my graveyard to the deck, shuffle them, and draw two cards."

With his hand restored to five cards, Hayato sighed as he looked at the card he had drawn. "What a pity. It seems that even someone like you can't last a single turn against me. This duel is over."

Hearing Hayato's words, Darkness interrupted him, saying, "You seem to think you have the victory in your grasp? But what can you do with only two monsters on the field? All you can do is destroy the two fusion monsters on my field, and at most you can only deal a mere 1100 points of damage to me."

'However, my [Illusion Magician] is an invincible Phantom Demon monster. All Phantom Demon monsters share the powerful effect of not destroying monsters on either side during battle. In Defense Position, it is an absolute and invincible defense.'

'Once you attack [Illusionist Magician], after the damage calculation step, I gain control of the monster that battles it. This ability doesn't even target. Furthermore, if it's an attack by a monster other than this card, at the start of the damage step, I can also destroy one card on the field once per turn, again without targeting.'

'If I destroy the other monsters on my field beforehand, after you destroy one of them, you'll be forced to attack my [Illusion Magician], and then control of the monster will fall into my hands!'

While deliberately provoking Hayato, Darkness was already envisioning the future where Hayato's powerful [Hellfire Machine - Tiera] would fall into his hands.

Then, he saw Hayato play a spell card: "Activate the spell card [Planetary Transformation], add the Field Spell Card [Dark World - Shadow Utopia-] from my Deck to my hand, and activate it to change all face-up monsters on the field to DARK."

"Next, I discard a card from my hand and unleash my ultimate power, activating the Quick-Play Spell Card [Super Polymerization]!"

Suddenly, a distorted shadow rose up from the dark purple space that had been surrounding them. An ominous power, tinged with a ghastly green within the darkness, completely enveloped Darkness and Hayato. The shadow soared into the sky and even pierced through the dark purple energy shield in an instant, startling Daitokuji: "Whoa! What is that?!"

With the activation of the Field Spell Card, the shadows that surged from the ground directly invaded all the monsters on both sides' fields. Whether it was the so-called phantom beast that no longer existed on Darkness's field, or the towering [Hellfire Machine - Tierra] on Hayato's field, the DARK-attribute monsters, Mimi and [Illusion Magician], remained unchanged.

Twisted shadows entered the bodies of the phantom beasts, turning their flesh-colored skin into an ominous dark green, and obscuring their eyes with chaos, revealing only rage and evil.

Even more deadly was that as Hayato discarded his hand and activated the Quick-Play Spell Card [Super Polymerization], the eerie blue soul flame in Darkness's eyes began to flicker, as if it were about to be sucked away by the lightning-infused vortex that appeared in mid-air.

"What...what kind of touwa is this?!"