Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Looking at the card he held in his hand, Camilla reluctantly decided to use it.

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card [Vampire's Domain], and then I activate the Spell Card [Compensation for the Left Arm]. If I have two or more cards in my hand other than this card, I can banish all of those cards to activate this card. I add one Spell Card from my Deck to my hand."

Because of the restriction that "you cannot set Spell/Trap Cards during the turn this card is activated", Camilla had no choice but to abandon all of her cards and activate "Compensation of the Left Arm" despite having a few decent cards in hand.

Such a powerful effect, capable of unconditionally searching for any spell card, naturally comes at a high price, and the spell card that Camilla considered a game-changing card was added to her hand. Suddenly, her expression darkened considerably.

No, it wasn't Camilla's expression that was gloomy, but rather that the sky was suddenly covered by dark clouds again in a very short time. If the thin mist when the [Vampire Empire] was launched brought mystery and haziness, then the shroud of these dark clouds created a suffocating sense of despair!

"You forced me to do this, you despicable human! You forced me to use this forbidden card. In that case, I'll activate this ultimate card, even at the cost of my soul!" Camilla said, casting a spell card from her hand, "[Gate of Illusion] Activated!"

Chapter 1125 Heroes Appear!

"Spell Card [Gate of Illusion], activate!"

At the cost of discarding all remaining cards in his hand and banishing them, Camilla activated the retrieved spell card, and an ancient door slowly rose behind him.

"【Gate of the Illusion】? What is this?" Asuka saw a card she had never heard of before and turned her gaze to the door that was constantly emanating a dangerous aura.

In any work, a "door" always carries a special meaning. For example, there's the Door of Truth that alchemists can access by sacrificing their height (not really), or the Door of Destiny that can only be opened by shouting "Soar to the sky" to obtain the spirit behind them. And the [Door of Illusion] that appears behind Camilla right now is something similar.

"To be driven to this point by such an ugly human being like you is unforgivable and unforgivable!"

Completely losing her self-control, Camilla transformed from an arrogant noblewoman into a madwoman, roaring with her blood-red mouth wide open. It's a pity she didn't add "Pegasus" to "Unforgivable," making her bloodline somewhat impure.

Her former elegant appearance had completely vanished. With an exaggerated grin and sharp teeth and a long tongue protruding from her mouth, she was clearly a bloodthirsty monster, eagerly trying to drain Professor Chronos's blood to vent her hatred.

"I never thought I'd be forced to use this forbidden card. You've really made a name for yourself, human! But this is where it ends. Crush to dust before the invincible [Gate of Illusion]! I will obliterate your flesh and torment your soul!" Camilla inserted the card into the Spell Trap Zone, saying, "This card's effect is to destroy all monsters on your opponent's field!"

The [Gate of Illusions] behind Camilla slowly opened. As soon as the gap between the doors appeared, an aura of evil and misfortune surged out of this terrifying door into the world, as if the door led to hell. The surrounding air froze for a moment.

Enveloped by the aura emanating from the [Gate of Illusion], an explosion suddenly occurred around the two [Ancient Machine] monsters on Chronos's field in an instant. The powerful impact instantly destroyed one of the monsters, and Chronos's field was covered in smoke and dust, with gear parts of the destroyed machine monsters flying everywhere.

"It's a card with the same effect as [Lightning Strike]!" Caesar frowned. He hadn't expected that Camilla, whose strength was only average, would actually think of using [Compensation of the Left Arm] to search for [Phantom Gate] and crush Chronos's monsters on the field in such a combo.

Although simple, it is indeed effective. In Caesar's impression, although the Ancient Gear monsters have multiple blocking effects when attacking and endless means of destruction, most of the monsters have no resistance. They are similar to strong offensive decks like Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Cyber ​​Dragon.

Once [Phantom Gate] takes effect, which has the same effect as [Lightning Strike], Professor Chronos's monsters will likely be completely destroyed, allowing Camilla to attack Professor Chronos with her two monsters without restraint!

Camilla shared the same thought as Caesar, but at that moment, she heard Professor Chronos's calm and collected voice: "Due to the disruption caused by the effect of [Phantom Gate], the third effect of [Ancient Mechanical Titan - Ultimate Strike] has been activated!"

"It has effects too!?" Camilla asked in surprise. "Can you write so many effects on one card?"

"Not bad, at least in my memory the one with the most words in its effect should be a Reptile-type monster, right?" Professor Chronos smirked and raised his hand, saying, "【Ancient Gear Giant - Ultimate Strike】can only be activated if it is destroyed by battle or card effect. I add one 【Fusion】 to my hand and one other 【Ancient Gear】 monster card from my Graveyard to my hand."

The gears, scattered and destroyed by the [Gate of Illusion], reassembled and returned to Professor Chronos's hand. In addition to adding a [Fusion] card from his deck to his hand, Chronos also took a card from his graveyard and said, "[Ancient Machine Box], this card added to my hand from the graveyard can be used again. Add one EARTH Machine-Type monster with 500 ATK or DEF from my deck to my hand."

Thanks to Camilla's previous [Hand Elimination], Chronos was able to use [Ancient Mechanical Box] to search for a card a second time, and the card he searched for this time was still [Ancient Mechanical Body].

Looking at Chronos, whose hand had grown to four cards, with displeasure, Camilla said, "So what if you have more cards? If you can't play them, having more cards is meaningless. Now that you have no monsters on your field, I can wipe out your Life Points with just one hit!"

"I currently have 1400 base points remaining. I only need to use the effect of [Vampire Heiress] to boost [Vampire Red Baron]'s attack power by 600 points, and your 3000 base points will be as fragile as a candle in the wind!"

Upon hearing Camilla's words, Chronos raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion, "Huh? But isn't the effect of [Vampire Heiress] only activated when fighting monsters?"

Camilla's smug smile froze. She glanced down at the card "Vampire Heiress" on the Duel Disk and belatedly realized that the effect of "Vampire Heiress" could only be used when her own Zombie-type monster battled against the opponent's monster. Had she misunderstood its effect?

However, the prideful Camilla refused to admit this, arguing, "I didn't mean using the effect of [Vampire Heiress], but rather that she and [Vampire Red Baron] would attack together. That way, the 600-point attack power of [Vampire Heiress] and the 2400-point attack power of [Vampire Red Baron] would just be enough to wipe out your remaining basic points!"

"Tremble! Fear! If you can't unleash the full potential of your Duel Monster, then prepare to die!"

Hearing Camilla's words, Chronos retorted, "But, good defense means you won't lose, noona!"

"Ha, defense? Didn't I already destroy all the monsters on the field? You don't have any monsters left to defend!"

"Solevadoka!" Before Camilla could finish speaking, Chronos suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "Let the enemy hear the roar of your gears, [Ancient Mechanical Demon]!"

Adhering to the "no harm from smoke" principle, the metallic roar of gears suddenly came from the dust enveloping Professor Chronos's field. The rotating gear mechanism created a miniature vortex, which, although not enough to create a gale, still dispelled the smoke and dust on Chronos's field, revealing the unharmed [Ancient Mechanical Demon God]!

"Impossible?! How could that weak monster survive the power of the [Phantom Gate]?!"

Faced with Camilla's confusion, Professor Chronos explained, "The Ancient Machine God is, after all, a Level 8☆ High-level Fusion Monster. Although its Attack and Defense stats are indeed a bit low, that doesn't mean it has no commendable effects, you know."

"【Ancient Mechanical Demon God】is unaffected by the effects of any other cards!"

Although the effect is short, the shorter the description of resistance, the better. Adding descriptions like "activated effect" or "effect on the field" actually weakens the resistance. The extremely short sentence "unaffected by the effects of other cards" represents the highest level of resistance. It is the ultimate all-around resistance, which cannot be affected by any effect, whether it is destruction, banishment, return to the deck, or changes in battle position or numerical value.

Even if the [Phantom Gate] were to disrupt the field, or even if the [Sky Dragon of Osiris], [Obelisk the Tormentor], or [Ra the Winged Dragon of Ra] were to come, they wouldn't be able to destroy it, unless it was a rule-breaking move like the [Blue-Eyes Light Dragon] that ignores resistance.

It can only be said that the ancient mechanical monsters either have no resistance at all, or they have their resistance maximized, truly taking the extreme route to the extreme.

"Damn it, why is this happening? Why are there monsters blocking my way?!" Camilla glared at the [Ancient Mechanical Demon God] and said fiercely.

"You think things shouldn't have turned out this way just because you lack imagination. You can't imagine the power of humans," Asuka teased Camilla from the sidelines. "Your plans have failed, vampire."

"But, it's not over yet, is it? That [Gate of Illusions] card." Compared to Asuka, Caesar didn't forget to be wary of the [Gate of Illusions] still standing behind Camilla. "If it's just a card with an effect like [Lightning Strike], she wouldn't call it a 'forbidden card'. After using it, it still occupies a spot on the field and refuses to disappear. Perhaps that card has some follow-up effect?"

With her plans disrupted once again and Asuka mocking her once more, Camilla was furious. Standing before the open gate of the [Phantom Gate], she angrily declared, "I've had enough of this formality! I'm going to use the full effect of the [Phantom Gate], right now, right here!"

"Besides destroying all monsters on your opponent's field, [Phantom Gate] can also Special Summon one card from your opponent's Graveyard to my field, ignoring the conditions for its summoning. This effect can only be used once per duel, but one use is enough to decide the winner of the duel!"

"The monster I will Special Summon is the Ancient Gear Giant - Ultimate Strike, which I destroyed in your Graveyard and possesses Defense Penetration ability!"

The roar of machinery filled the air, but this time it wasn't Professor Chronos using a Machine-Type monster; instead, it was Camilla using the Vampire deck. With Chronos no longer having any face-down cards on the field, she no longer needed the Ancient Machine Thermonuclear Dragon, which could unleash multiple lockdowns when attacking. What she needed more was the Ancient Machine Giant - Ultimate Slam, which could deal as much damage as possible.

Despite the restriction that it "cannot be Special Summoned," both Professor Chronos and Camilla ignored this and used their respective cards that ignored summoning conditions to summon [Ancient Mechanical Giant - Ultimate Strike] to the field. The mechanical giant stood opposite Chronos, and the originally red monitor was also stained black by the darkness of [Phantom Gate], turning it into a pitch-black mess.

It's like having your own ace up against the opponent. There's no more despairing moment than that.

"So this is what it feels like for duelists who have faced my monsters before?" Professor Chronos smiled subtly as he looked at the Ancient Mechanical Giant - Ultimate Strike before him. "Even I am experiencing this for the first time."

"Now that things have come to this, you can still laugh? I hope you can still laugh after your soul is stripped away by the [Gate of Illusion]." Beside Camilla, an entity that looked almost exactly like her appeared out of thin air. Both had the same long green hair and blood-red dress. The only difference was that Camilla was now looking like a demon because of her determination to defeat Chronos, while the other "Camilla" had a normal expression and was not wearing a Duel Disk.

"What is that?"

Noticing Chronos's surprised look, Camilla smiled smugly and said, "'Powerful cards often come with great risks,' isn't that a true saying? The powerful effect of [Phantom Gate] is naturally not without its price. After this duel ends, the loser's soul will be dragged into the despairing hell behind [Phantom Gate] to be devoured by 'Phantom Demons' and suffer eternal torment."

After a pause, Camilla's gaze shifted to the sidelines, saying, "However, even if victory is assured, I don't want to gamble my soul on the table. So I'll use the soul of your annoying student as a substitute for mine!"

As Camilla spoke, another version of herself suddenly sprang up, flying into the air like a ghost and lunging at the unsuspecting Tenjouin Asuka and Marufuji Ryo!

Even "Caesar" had never seen anything like this before. He only had time to shout "Run!" to Asuka in an attempt to stop Camilla's soul, but he saw that Camilla's soul seemed to be a phantom that passed directly through the vehicles blocking the way and circled around to Asuka's back. Camilla's soul pressed down on Asuka's shoulders with both hands and was about to bite Asuka's neck with its sharp teeth!

Caesar and the others were unaware that Camilla's other plan was that if she succeeded in using Asuka as a scapegoat, the [Ancient Mechanical Giant - Ultimate Strike] she specially summoned would be bound to Asuka's soul. Once Chronos defeated the monster, Asuka's soul would also be shattered, forcing Chronos to be restrained and unable to fight at full strength.

Even though they didn't know Camilla's plans, there were so many vampire-related works in the world that even Professor Chronos knew that Camilla's actions were exactly the same as the so-called "First Embrace" in vampire works, where "biting someone can turn them into a vampire." They were anxious to save Asuka, but the two of them, who had no supernatural powers, were powerless to do so.

But at that very moment, a male voice that Camilla had never heard before suddenly rang out: "Rider—"

"—Kick!"

Suddenly, a tandem bicycle sprang out from the bushes. The boy on the back of the bicycle shouted and launched a flying kick, which actually hit the other Camilla in his spirit form, sending the latter flying!

With a graceful landing, Judai caught Asuka, who was about to fall. With Marufuji Sho, who couldn't stop his bicycle and plunged into the lake behind him, in the background, he said, "Although I don't know what happened, the heavens are calling, the earth is calling, and people are calling, calling me to defeat evil!"

"Heroes, make your dazzling debut!"

"Impossible! Who are you?!" Camilla was both shocked and furious as she watched her own soul being kicked back to her side and trapped in the [Gate of Illusion], unable to find a scapegoat. She was furious that her plans had failed time and time again, and astonished that an ordinary human could touch her soul.

He rubbed the tip of his nose, a bright smile spreading across his face. He pointed at himself with his thumb and said, "Just a hero who happened to be passing by and was only interested in playing. Remember that!"

Chapter 1126 Duel Academy's Life-Saving King

Professor Chronos was somewhat surprised to see Judai appear, but he still said without hesitation, "Well done, you lousy student!"

"It would be better to call me 'Judai' like you did during the entrance exam, Chronos-sensei." Hearing Chronos address him as such, Judai helped Asuka, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, to her feet and retorted, "Sho and I saw your [Ancient Mechanical Titan] from afar, Chronos-sensei, but why did it end up on the other side of the field?"

"Upon closer inspection, teacher, isn't your situation on the field extremely dangerous!?"

"First, it wasn't 'Ancient Gear Giant' but 'Ancient Gear Giant - Ultimate Strike.' Although they're similar, they're different cards, Nano-ne. Second, it was all because of a forbidden card that my monster was taken away." As he said this, Chronos bit his handkerchief with some resentment. "It really doesn't feel good to have your monster taken away, Nano-ne."

"However, I am not at the point where I should cause concern for mere underachieving students."

"Just feeling unwell? Stop being so stubborn. Seeing your monster appear on my field, you should already be filled with fear, fear of the darkness and despair brought by this [Phantom Gate]." Camilla sneered upon hearing Chronos's words. "Now it's your turn to taste the attack of a monster with defense-piercing abilities!"

"I'm switching [Vampire Heiress] to Attack Position, then I enter the Battle Phase and use [Ancient Mechanical Giant - Ultimate Strike] to attack your [Ancient Mechanical Demon] in Defense Position. Tremble, you insignificant human!"

"Ultimate Dark Strike!"

By adding "Darkness" to the middle of "Ultimate Strike," Camilla used it as the name of his attack move, commanding [Ancient Mechanical Titan - Ultimate Strike] to attack [Ancient Mechanical Demon God].

All sorts of "perfect" combos were countered by Chronos one by one, and now Camilla desperately wanted to use Chronos's defeat to soothe her displeasure.

There's a saying that goes, "The most useless resistance is battle destruction resistance, and the most effective way to clear the field is battle destruction." Even the fully resistant Ancient Mechanical God couldn't withstand the iron fist of the Mechanical Giant for more than a few seconds before being smashed into countless flying parts by its punch.

At the same time, the combat damage that overflowed due to the defensive penetration ability of the Ancient Mechanical Titan - Ultimate Strike also fell on Professor Chronos.

"Well!"

[Kronos: 3000→1800LP]

Seeing Chronos's life points plummet by nearly half, Camilla exclaimed excitedly, "That's it! This is the scene I wanted to see, this humiliating defeat of you humans before me!"

"And next up is [The Red Baron]—"

Before Camilla could finish speaking, Chronos's voice rang out: "—No, no, no, it's a bit early to try and attack me directly with your [Vampire] monster. Because before that, [Ancient Machine Demon] can be activated!"

Just like the scene when the [Ancient Mechanical Giant - Ultimate Strike] was destroyed and activated, the gear parts of the shattered [Ancient Mechanical Demon God] actually reassembled and rebuilt in front of Professor Chronos, forming a huge humanoid skeleton in the blink of an eye, with armor constantly being nested on top of it.

"If [Ancient Gear] is sent to the Graveyard by battle, you can activate this effect and Special Summon one [Ancient Gear] monster from my Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions."

Chronos held a card in his hand, pondering—Special Summoning a monster in Defense Position might be able to block one attack, but considering the effect of [Vampire Heiress], if the stats aren't high enough, it's very likely that the monster will be defeated, and then he'll have to face the direct attack of [Vampire Red Baron];

At the same time, Camilla's attempt to use Asuka as a scapegoat reminded Chronos that Camilla's behavior, which made it impossible for her to hide anything, was clearly telling Chronos that her monster might have another effect that she had not been able to use before, and that it should be common to all monsters.

Although there is no evidence, Professor Chronos's intuition as a duelist tells him that the hidden effect might be related to the vampire's "Embrace".

To raise the monster's stats to a certain level without risking Camilla turning the tables on it, there's only one solution—

"Descend in response to my thirst for victory, my ace monster Nanone!" Professor Chronos shouted, placing the card face down on the Duel Disk, "I Special Summon [Ancient Gear Giant] in Defense Position!"

Without any special suffix, the original version, which is also the most well-balanced in terms of performance, is the Ancient Mechanical Giant, which is reassembled from mechanical gears and appears in Professor Chronos' field in defense position.

For a moment, there was an Ancient Mechanical Giant on each side of the field at the same time.

【Ancient Mechanical Titan - Ultimate Strike】【ATK3000】

[Ancient Mechanical Giants] [DEF3000]

Although the battle-destroying monster fulfilled the primary activation condition for the additional attack effect of "Ancient Gear Giant - Ultimate Strike", Camilla did not have any Machine-Type monster cards in his hand to activate this ability, so "Ancient Gear Giant - Ultimate Strike" could not be activated.

However, apart from the monsters taken from Chronos, Camilla also has his own [Vampire] monsters on the field that haven't attacked yet.

"Summoning a monster again at a time like this? How long are you going to keep fooling me?!" Camilla glared at the [Ancient Mechanical Giant] blocking her path, a monster whose mere presence was enough to avert the death that should have befallen Chronos. "But do you think a monster like this can save you and spare you from suffering?"