Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Kagemaru denied with unusual firmness upon hearing Hayato's words. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I can't tell whether these three cards in my hand are real or fake?"

With unwavering conviction, Kagemaru glanced at the cards in his hand. At first glance, he didn't notice anything wrong with the cards. The red dragon-like monster, the yellow winged behemoth, and the blue humanoid monster were exactly the images of the "Three Phantom Demons" depicted on the stone tablet that Amunaeru had found.

However, upon closer inspection, Kagemaru suddenly noticed subtle differences between the cards in his hand and the illustrations on the stone tablet. Although they resembled each other in appearance, the true forms of the "Three Phantom Demons" had all been replaced by human girls instead of inhuman demon gods!?

(slate)

(card)

No wonder, even though Kagemaru clearly felt that he had successfully taken over the control of the "Seven Essences Unlocking Gate", he could not feel the power of the "Three Phantom Demons" cards. The reason is that the three cards in his hand were clearly just fake cards with the name of the "Three Phantom Demons" but without any of their core power!

Judging from the quality of the card, it's definitely not something that was casually manufactured. It's a counterfeit card produced using the most formal methods, extremely close to the real thing. The person in the world with this level of counterfeiting ability simply doesn't exist. The only thing capable of producing such cards is the card-making equipment of the International Illusion Society, which is specifically used to produce genuine cards. And the person who could access such equipment to produce these incomprehensible counterfeit cards—

"How about it? My specially designed cards are much better looking than the originals, aren't they? Aren't they better than a bunch of monsters?" Hayato said. "As expected, there is no duelist more compassionate than me."

"Onole Kobayashi Hayato!"

Kagemaru was enraged! He threw the three fake cards in his hand to the ground without hesitation, and then the attack of [Dark Netherworld Demon - Neosphia] immediately struck the cards, turning them all to ashes. Kagemaru's hand, pointing at Hayato, trembled uncontrollably with extreme anger: "Do you know what you've done? You've wasted the power of 'Seven Essences Unlocking Gate'! The dueling energy it has been collecting over the years could have been used to complete these three powerful 'Phantom Demon' cards, but you've wasted such a precious thing!"

"You think you're so great? You're so high and mighty! You're the Duel King, you have immense power! If you don't want it, give it to me!" Kagemaru clutched his chest in pain. "When and how did you switch the cards sealed in the 'Seven Essences Unlocking Gate'?"

As she spoke, Kagemaru's gaze involuntarily shifted to Daitokuji beside her: "Could it be... Amunaeru? Why are you just standing there watching? Could it be... could it be that you really betrayed me, Amunaeru!"

Watching Kagemaru fall from hope into despair, Daitokuji slowly shook his head and said, "I have never betrayed you, Mr. Kagemaru. From beginning to end, I have always acted to repay your kindness. However, I have never said that I actually put the 'Three Phantom Demons' cards into the seal according to your request."

"The so-called absorption of 'duel energy' is based on the amplification of the 'Three Phantoms''s absorption of spirit power by the 'Seven Essence Unlocking Gate.' Since the 'Three Phantoms' were not even in the seal in the first place, there's no question of wasting 'duel energy,' meow." As usual, Daitokuji still inadvertently added his catchphrase at the end, but Judai and Asuka didn't notice it.

The opening of the "Gate of Seven Spirits," Kagemaru's removal of the sealed card, his repeated failures to summon the spirits within the card, and Hayato's revelation of the "shocking truth" that Kagemaru found hard to accept—all these events caused Jaden and Asuka's brains to temporarily enter a state where they could only receive information but were unable to process thoughts. However, Jaden quickly figured out one thing.

"Wait a minute, does that mean the cards in the 'Seven Seals' are fake?" Jaden looked at Hayato in surprise. "In that case, Hayato-sensei, wouldn't it have been pointless for us to guard the key to the seal from the very beginning? For that key that could be given to the other party without any harm, Asuka's brother was controlled by others, Daitokuji-sensei sacrificed himself, Manjoume fell down, and even others were injured because of it."

Hayato shook his head upon hearing this: "No, of course it has meaning. For Kagemaru, he only cares about whether the cards placed in the seal can satisfy his desires and ambitions. For this, he can do things that sacrifice other lives on the island without any regard. His initial ambition was to extract the spirit and life of all life on the island indiscriminately in exchange for his own lifespan. However, he later had no choice but to use the 'Three Phantom Demons' cards as a transfer point to receive the energy of the 'Seven Essence Seal,' which has a collection speed that has been slowed down countless times."

"For us, the necessity to prevent him from obtaining the sealing key lies in preventing him from breaking the seal and then indulging in that initial greedy desire."

As Hayato finished speaking, Kagemaru pressed his [Dark Demon - Neosphia] card onto the empty sealing device, manipulating it to sink into the ground. With a grim face, he said, "Five years! You've wasted five whole years of my precious life, Kobayashi Hayato!"

"My five years of waiting have been in vain. I've had enough. I don't have the patience to wait another five years. Now that the 'Seven Essence Seals' are in my hands, and that bastard Amunaeru refuses to give his all for me, I'll personally create the powerful card I need."

"Using [Dark Netherworld Demon - Neosphia] as a temporary vessel, I will start from scratch to complete my own 'Three Phantom Demons'! Right now, right here!"

Roaring, Kagemaru raised his hand in the same motion as when he had raised the "Three Phantom Demons" card. His empty hand stretched into the air, and then a large amount of black energy suddenly surged into his palm from his right hand, where he had been wearing the ring that had been swallowed. His veins and blood vessels bulged and formed a mark called "Ugato's Eye" on Kagemaru's palm.

(Replacing the skull with the Eye of Ugato would give it a similar appearance.)

The surging black energy materialized into three cards out of thin air in Kagemaru's hand. However, the cards were printed with only rough outlines without filling in the colors, as if there was not enough ink during printing. They looked like ancient reliefs.

At the same time, a red, yellow, and blue pillar suddenly rose into the sky from somewhere in the distance, and then the three colors of light fell from the sky into the three cards in Kagemaru's hand. Each of the three cards absorbed a kind of light and gradually became colored. After the last ray of light was also absorbed into the card, the card in Kagemaru's hand was completed.

The "Three Phantoms" cards that Hayato obtained were originally completed by Daitokuji, but he stopped because he realized the evil of the "Three Phantoms". However, they were stolen by Dark Bakura and given to the Gross under Malik's command. They were gradually completed through their duels with others. Hayato himself also contributed to this process. Although the final card still has the effect of the anime version, the card art has changed to the physical card version that Hayato is more familiar with, and the text on it is the same as that of a regular card.

(Hayato version card picture)

At this moment, the three cards that Kagemaru printed out of thin air not only had different illustrations from the "Three Phantoms" version in Hayato's hands, but the script used to write them was also the old Hebrew script that was once used to write the Bible.

(Malden, who usually passes by)

"That location is... the old school building?" Judai and Asuka glanced at the direction where the three-colored pillar of light had just risen. Because of their recent experience, they remembered the location of the abandoned old school building very clearly.

"I'm afraid you don't know this, but beneath the former dormitory for the top students of Obelisk-Blue, which is this abandoned old school building, lie many unknown secrets. In addition to the alchemy circle of the dark game that caused the students to disappear, there is even a stone tablet containing the original prototype of the 'Three Phantoms'."

Kagemaru said smugly. Transporting the stone tablets to the island had taken him a lot of effort. He thought they would be useless, but he was surprised to find that they were paying off now. "Most modern Duel Monster cards are based on those stone tablets left over from ancient Egypt. With the help of those three 'Three Phantom Monsters' stone tablets and the incredible power of 'Darkness,' I can complete the 'Three Phantom Monsters' card all by myself!"

"What a pity, why did it take me so long to think about accepting the power of 'Darkness'?" Laughing, Kagemaru frowned as he looked at the three cards in his hand. "However, although it's more than 90% complete, it's like a car without fuel. My 'Three Phantoms' still need to absorb duel energy and the power of the spirits to fully awaken and unleash their powerful abilities."

Raising his head, Kagemaru looked at Hayato: "You have hindered my plans time and time again. You are the stone in my way, Kobayashi Hayato. But it doesn't matter. I will step on your corpse and use your powerful spirit power as nourishment to climb step by step, step by step, step by step, to the throne of the King of the World and even the 'God' of the whole world!"

"I'll use your best duel skills to kill you here and have you absorbed by my 'Three Phantom Demons'!"

"Duel!"

[Kagemaru: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

Chapter 1174 Winged Kuriboh: Read My Face

As Kagemaru inserted the card of [Dark Demon - Neosphia] into the sealing device, a voice came to Jaden's ear.

"Ku, ku li ku li!" (I feel terrible!)

Jaden turned his head and saw that it was Winged Kuriboh making the sound. Her voice was filled with obvious pain, and her complexion was not good either. Don't ask Jaden how he could tell the "complexion" from a fur ball. He had also learned "Kuriboh language" without any teacher.

"What's wrong, Aibo?"

"Curry, curry curry..." Jaden pointed to the location of Kagemaru, understanding the meaning of [Winged Kuriboh]. "You said that person is absorbing your power? What does that mean?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like. Kagemaru is absorbing the power of all the Pokémon in the world. No, with him now in charge of the 'Seven Spirits Unlocking Gate,' it's not just the power of the Pokémon that's being devoured, but even the life force of humans, right?" Hayato clenched his fist, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Jaden, saying, "Although we don't feel anything yet, it will probably get worse over time. By then, even the strongest athletes will be struggling to walk like old men."

"As for duelists who are protected by spirits, although their life force will be lost much more slowly, it is not without cost. It's just that the spirits are protecting the duelists with their own power. By the time the duelists' life force begins to be absorbed, their spirits will probably have already been absorbed and killed by that guy Kagemaru."

Although Hayato said that, Rainbow Kuriboh, standing beside him, scratched her head, seemingly unaffected. The reason was that Hayato hadn't mentioned that, besides the power of Pokémon, the special powers of certain special groups or items possessing special powers could also be used to protect against the absorption of the "Seven Spirits' Gate," such as the Millennium Item and the Quantum Cube.

Hayato, of course, would not allow Kagemaru to harm his Pokémon at will, so he immediately protected his Pokémon from being interfered with by Kagemaru's power. As for Jaden, although he himself was unaware of it, even in a passive situation, his Winged Kuriboh was actually protected to some extent, which slowed down the rate at which the power was absorbed. However, the potential power used passively could not compare with that used actively. If the time dragged on, Jaden's Winged Kuriboh would be absorbed by Kagemaru just like Banjou's Dragon of Light and Darkness.

"Absolutely not!" Jaden said firmly, looking at Kagemaru who had already assumed a duel stance. He raised his Duel Disk, ready to accept Kagemaru's challenge. "It's just a guess, but maybe if I can defeat that guy with a duel—"

"Come on, I never gave you permission to take on a duel for me without my consent, Jaden." However, Hayato reached out and grabbed Jaden's collar, pulling him back and towards Asuka. "There are currently two ways to interrupt Kagemaru's plan: one is to solve the problem from the source and the other from the end. That is, to destroy the stone tablet that Kagemaru uses to construct the 'Three Phantom Demons' cards in his hand, and to directly destroy the 'Three Phantom Demons' cards that Kagemaru has currently completed but are not yet finished."

Just now, Kagemaru used the power of "Darkness" to construct his "Three Phantom Demons". It seems that he has completed the general outline of the card. However, the actual situation is like workers building the basic framework and steel bars of a building according to the blueprints, but they have not yet injected "concrete" that can sustain its existence for a long time into it. That is, the power of the elves and the life force of humans that he is currently absorbing.

The so-called two directions, from the end and the source, correspond to removing the "steel bars" and destroying the blueprints, respectively. In that case, Kagemaru will no longer be able to complete the "Three Phantom Demons" cards or create new cards. This will end the "Seven Essences Unlocking Gate" that Kagemaru is currently operating at the root.

Hayato took out a deck of cards and inserted it into the Duel Disk. He looked at Kagemaru and said, "I have no interest in going to some obscure corner to look for those stone tablets that I don't know where they are. Anyway, you all remember the old school building of the Duel Academy, so you can go and destroy the stone tablets of the 'Three Phantom Demons'. As for Kagemaru, since he has provoked me like this, it is natural for me to duel him."

"If my opponent is you, then this deck would be better for me, right?"

"Duel!"

[Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

As Hayato's Duel Disk connected with Kagemaru's, and their duel began, Jaden had no chance to refuse Hayato's command. Seeing the visibly weakening Winged Kuriboh beside him, and Asuka's growing mental fog, he quickly said, "Then there's no time to lose, we must destroy the 'Three Phantom Demons' slabs immediately, Asuka!"

"Can you really do something like that?" Daitokuji, who had been standing by OMO, suddenly spoke up when he saw Hayato and Kagemaru start their duel and Jaden and Asuka were about to leave, and blocked Jaden's way.

"Are you one of Kagemaru's subordinates, or a member of the Seven Stars?" Looking at Daitokuji, who was dressed in a cloak and mask, looking like someone who couldn't be seen in public, Judai recalled what Kagemaru had called him before, "I remember it was... Arminus?"

“It’s ‘Amunaeru,’ Jaden Yuki.” The man standing in front of Jaden under the name “Amunaeru” paused, then continued, “Although the binding effect of the ‘Seven Essences Unlocking Gate’ only applies to you when you are holding the sealing key, you are now free to leave here because you have handed the key to Kagemaru in exchange for your companions.”

"But unfortunately, I will not let you leave like this and then destroy the 'Three Phantom Demons' tablets that Kagemaru needs."

Upon hearing Amunaeru's words, Judai immediately became wary, while Asuka, who was standing to the side, suppressed the slight dizziness caused by the slow absorption of her life force by the "Seven Essence Unlocking Gate" and looked at Amunaeru, saying, "Why? You were watching Kagemaru's efforts without doing anything before, so why are you suddenly helping him now?"

"If you were one of the Seven Stars who were extremely loyal to Kagemaru, you would have been able to do things for him from the very beginning. But you did nothing and just stood quietly by Kagemaru's side like an outsider. It's clear that you're not the kind of person who would go all out for Kagemaru or do things seriously. So why are you helping him now that he's hysterically attacking indiscriminately and only wants to achieve his absurd goals?"

Despite feeling a bit dizzy, Asuka's mind remained sharp. Without any clues, she realized that "Amunaeru wasn't entirely on Kagemaru's side." But it was precisely because she realized this that she was puzzled as to why Amunaeru was now working for Kagemaru and stopping her and Jaden to prevent them from ruining Kagemaru's plans.

Upon hearing Asuka's question, "Amunaeru" seemed to be thinking, remaining silent for a short while before replying, "Because of principles, this is my personal principle, which is the so-called 'equivalent exchange'."

"Equivalent exchange?"

Seeing the puzzled looks on Judai and Asuka's faces, "Amunaeru" explained: "In alchemy, the most basic principle, and the one that alchemists most want to break, is called 'equivalent exchange,' which means that the interaction between all things is necessarily constant. What you gain is destined to be lost, and giving up something can be exchanged for something else."

“I have received great kindness from Kagemaru in the past, so I must repay him. However, for various reasons, I have always found it difficult to contribute my power to fulfill his wishes, because doing so would break my other principles.”

"But now the timing is just right. Kagemaru has activated the 'Seven Essences Unlocking Gate' to complete the 'Three Phantom Demons' card, and I happen to have enough power to help him fulfill his wish without breaking my personal principles, in order to repay the kindness he has shown me in the past and to complete an 'equivalent exchange'."

Amunaeru spoke calmly, but Judai was agitated: "Are you... what are you talking about?!"

"Kagemaru is doing something irreversible. Nobody knows where or who is being harmed because of his actions, yet you're helping him do things that hurt so many people because of 'favors' or something like that. What do you take life for?!"

But Amunaeru's voice remained calm in response to the agitated Jaden: "Life? It's merely the currency necessary for alchemy to reach its ultimate answer. Whether it's 'human transmutation' or the 'Philosopher's Stone,' seemingly disparate paths are essentially a desecration and contempt for the original natural life. For alchemists, life, whether that of others or their own, is nothing more than currency."

"Further words are useless, Jaden Yuki. If you want to hinder Kagemaru and destroy the 'Three Phantom Demons' tablets, then duel me. In fact, I've been looking forward to dueling you for a long time, because I've always felt that you also have the potential to be an alchemist." Amunaeru raised the Duel Disk and said calmly, "The ability to kill and reconstruct matter through [Fusion], the ability to keep advancing on the path of miracles, and the unnoticed indifference to life buried in your heart."

"Nonsense, I can't understand it." Even Judai couldn't help but feel angry when he heard Amunaeru say such things about him. "But I will defeat you, you accomplice of Kagemaru!"

Seeing Judai facing off against yet another Seven Star, Asuka said worriedly, "No, Judai, your body hasn't recovered yet. You can't fight anymore!"

"If it were me, there would still be time—"

“That won’t do, Asuka. There are more than just one or two reasons why I want to duel this person.” Hearing Asuka’s words, Judai refused, staring intently at Amunaeru, who was concealing his identity. “Besides stopping Kagemaru’s crazy behavior, I also want to avenge our teacher Daitokuji by finding this person.”

“Manjoume was with Daitokuji-sensei in the Osiris-Red dormitory before, so they should have been acting together when they came here. But when we arrived, we only saw Manjoume fall down in his duel with Kagemaru, and we didn’t see Daitokuji-sensei at all.”

Slightly influenced by Manjou's love of deduction, Judai, with his extraordinary wisdom, pondered and deduced an answer that he found exceptionally reasonable: "Then without a doubt, it was this guy who killed Daitokuji-sensei in the duel using the Dark Game!"

"Although Mr. Daitokuji liked to slack off and often left tasks to us students, and unlike Mr. Aoki from the Yellow Dorm, he wasn't a great cook—his dishes, except for fried shrimp, were all terrible—Mr. Daitokuji was still one of my most important teachers, and I absolutely cannot forgive the guy who killed him!"

'The food I cooked on the first day of school was really burnt!' Amunaeru argued inwardly, trying to remain calm and not making a sound. She just said coldly, 'Then go ahead and attack me with that anger, and drown in the darkness like your cowardly teacher.'

Looking back at Asuka, Judai gave her a thumbs up and said, "So that's how it is. I'll leave the task of disrupting the Kagemaru Plan to you, Asuka. I'll work with Hayato-sensei to take down these two guys here."

“I just called Professor Chronos using Wan Zhangmu’s phone. He’s already on his way. You should hitch a ride with him to the old school building.”

Jaden had already said all that, so what could Asuka say? She nodded to Jaden, and then gave him one last piece of advice: "You have to win, Jaden!"

Carrying the unconscious Manjoume and the collapsed Tenjouin Fubuki, Asuka walked into the forest at the edge of the clearing, leaving the area covered by the "Seven Spirits' Release Gate," and headed towards the location sent by Professor Chronos to the phone that Judai had given her to Manjoume. With the "Seven Spirits' Release Gate" constantly absorbing the power of the spirits and the life force of humans, she had to race against time—so, with only two hands and a maximum of two people to carry, she had no choice but to leave Marufuji Sho here, since neither Kagemaru nor that "Amunaeru" had any intention of taking hostages.

As Asuka's figure disappeared into the jungle, "Amunaeru" looked at Judai and said, "I thought you might agree to your classmate's suggestion, switch places with her, and leave here to destroy the stone slab yourself?"

His reply was a confident smile from Judai, who took a deep breath to calm himself down: "Isn't that obvious? A hero can't desert his post."

"A hero? You can't find happiness by clinging to that." Speaking in words Jaden couldn't understand, "Amunaeru" raised the Duel Disk. "However, the battle with me is not the kind you've experienced before, where you can win by relying on 'tenacity' or 'courage.' The battle between alchemists is a battle of their respective alchemy."

"Let me see how far your [Fusion] can go on the path of miracles."

Jaden, holding up his Duel Disk and pointing his deck at Amunaeru, replied, "I'm not the kind of alchemist who disregards life like you. But I'll show you the power of my bonds with my comrades and the combined strength of the heroes!"

"Duel!" "Duel!"

Jaden's impassioned voice and Amunaeru's calm voice rang out simultaneously. Their duel disks unfolded together, and their life score panels lit up with their life scores. Following Hayato and Kagemaru, the two of them also faced off and entered duel mode.

[Junior: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

【Amunaeru: 4000LP, 5 in hand】

Seeing that Hayato wasn't looking at his hand but instead turning to look at Jaden and Amunaeru, Kagemaru's voice was very displeased: "Even now, you still dare to be distracted during my duel and pay attention to other people?"

"You really like those kids that much, Hayato Kobayashi?"

“Grandma said that children are the most precious treasures of mankind, and the most serious crime in the world is to harm these precious treasures.” Turning back to look at the eyeshadow ball, Hayato said, “As for why I don’t want to look at you… you’re just naked, wearing only a loincloth, it’s too much of an eyesore, I don’t want to look any longer.”

"What do you know? This is a symbol of youth returning to my body, proof that I have regained my lost youth!" Yingmaru said, flexing his biceps and looking at his arms with satisfaction.

"Tsk tsk, you sound like you care a lot about your youth. But I have no regrets about my youth." Seeing Kagemaru looking at his body with narcissism, Hayato said disdainfully, "Those overly muscular muscles are not attractive at all. Your taste is really bad. But don't worry about it, because your taste is even worse. I'm talking about your face."

"I'll take the first turn. Draw a card." Effortlessly seizing the initiative from Kagemaru, who hadn't even considered taking the first turn, Hayato drew a card from his deck and said, "Activate the Spell Card [Planetary Modification]. I add a Field Spell Card from my deck to my hand."