Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"I choose, [Silver Labyrinth Castle]!" Hayato declared loudly as he retrieved a card from his deck, "and activate [Silver Labyrinth Castle]!"

"This time, I'm playing pure 'Silver City'!"

Chapter 1175 Welcome, welcome, a very warm welcome!

"Field Spell Card: Silver Labyrinth, activate!"

Silver spread across the ground, transforming from the intangible into the tangible. A massive castle rose from the ground, enveloping Hayato and Kagemaru. Their surroundings were changed from a clearing in the forest to a mansion within the castle.

"【The Silver Labyrinth Castle】, or it can also be called 'Labrynth', is based on the ancient Minoan civilization of the Aegean region, and this city can also be regarded as a royal city." In front of the ornately decorated and elegant castle, Hayato stood at the entrance like a king, looking down at Kagemaru below the steps, "If you dare to dream of becoming a 'king' or even a 'god,' then try to cross the labyrinth castle and come to the throne."

"However, since you dare to bare your fangs at the throne, you must also be prepared to accept the mysterious curse of this labyrinthine city and be forever lost."

Compared to Hayato, Kagemaru, who was completely naked, looked much more vulgar. Hearing Hayato's words, he said unhappily, "It's just a Field Spell Card, what's so special about it?"

"Let me share a little bit of trivia: the word 'Labrynth' is a compound word, which means 'Labyrinth', representing a labyrinth, and 'Labrys', a double-edged axe that symbolizes royalty. Although they may not seem very related on their own, when put together, they easily remind you of the world-famous Greek myth of 'the labyrinth of King Minos'."

Hayato draws a card from his hand and reveals it: "【Silver Labyrinth】also has the 【Rabilins】 field. It can be activated during both players' turns when there is an effect of a 【Rabilins】 card other than this card or when a Normal Trap Card is activated. Special Summon this card from my hand in Defense Position!"

"Her white princess, who controls servants and furniture, draws back the curtain of the stage amidst the flickering lights, and joins me in witnessing the tragedy of struggling in this endless trap!"

"【The Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle】!"

Holding a pair of swift swords with axe-blade hilts, a silver-haired girl walked gracefully to Hayato's side. Her long white dress fluttered in the breeze, exuding composure and nobility. However, more striking than her magnificent battle dress and the armor worn only on her limbs was her headdress. The headdress that bound her long hair, whether by coincidence or not, formed a pair of "bull horns" pointing towards the sky.

Although he didn't quite understand Hayato's meaning at first, after several reminders, Kagemaru finally understood why Hayato mentioned the so-called "Labyrinth of King Minos." After all, in his search for a way to prolong his life, he had done some research on mythologies from around the world, and naturally, he was familiar with Greek mythology, specifically the famous passage from the renowned mythological work, *The Odyssey*.

The story of Theseus, the hero who, with the help of Princess Ariadne, defeated the Minotaur, a minotaur in the Minotaur's labyrinth in the Minotaur kingdom of Crete, has been adapted and referenced in various ways. Even in the Duel Monsters cards currently released by Mirage International, many cards are based on elements from this myth, especially the Labyrinth Deck used by the Labyrinth Brothers, the duelists of the two-player dueling experts. Even the legendary duelist Seto Kaiba used the classic "Minotaur."

This story could even be called the earliest "pure love warrior slaying a minotaur" in history - although after killing the minotaur, the pure love warrior Theseus soon encountered another minotaur, and the princess who left with him was taken in by Dionysus, and in the end, the minotaur still won!

"That monster, could it be the Minotaur, that famous bull-headed monster that roams the labyrinth?" Even Kagemaru couldn't help but complain as he looked at the girl next to Hayato. "Couldn't you just draw a monster properly? Why did you have to design the card as a female character who doesn't look very strong?"

"You really don't understand selling graphics cards at all. You don't realize that performance is temporary, but looks are forever. Like adding some random, multicolored lights to a computer case can boost performance by 1000%. And those 'female' graphics cards are a great way to increase sales."

As the largest shareholder of Illusion International, Hayato said, "The best example is probably the new Vampire card that Illusion International recently released. Compared to previous cards like Vampire Creator, cards like Vampire Heiress saw sales increase several times over after their release."

"Besides, who says that [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth] can't be fought?"

After Hayato finished speaking, the Silver Princess of the Labyrinth beside him stepped forward, confidently puffing out her chest. Unfortunately, her "Level C" human heart was covered by an outer armor layer, so it had no dynamic effects at all.

【The Silver Princess of the Labyrinth】【8☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[3000/2900]

"Attack power, 3000 points!? That's on par with the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon?!" Kagemaru exclaimed in surprise, choosing the Blue-Eyes White Dragon as the comparison without hesitation. However, remembering that he was still dueling with Hayato and couldn't let his opponent's morale be boosted while diminishing his own, he changed his tune, "But so what? That monster only entered in defense mode, and besides, it's only the first turn, so we can't even start the battle phase yet."

"Besides, with such simple entry conditions and such high ATK and DEF stats, that monster couldn't possibly have any other troublesome effects, right? How could such an overpowered card exist in the world?"

“Is that so? Then let’s wait and see.” Hayato said, snapping his fingers. “Now that the mistress of the Labyrinth City has made her appearance, it’s time for the servants to take the stage as well. I’m Normal Summoning Ariana the Silver Castle’s Envoy from my hand in Defense Position.”

"Come out, Green!" Following the card player's habit of giving nicknames based on colors, Hayato called out to the monster that was placed horizontally on his duel disk, and saw a white-haired girl dressed in a maid outfit respectfully come to the side of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth].

She held a keychain strung with several green, sword-shaped keys, wore a black stocking on one leg and a rather cute green one on the other, while the small green wings on her back and the long black and green tail protruding from beneath her knee-length maid skirt revealed that she was not human. Seeing Hayato scrutinizing her, [Ariana] bowed respectfully, but her face remained expressionless.

[Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] [4☆/Dark]

[Demon Race/Effect]

[1600/2100]

"Wow, another maid-type character! This feels really bad!" Hayato's waistband, [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl], also known as Xiao Lan, sensed the aura of [Summoner of Silver City - Ariana] who had just appeared. She immediately peeked out, looked at the maid outfit on the other character, and couldn't help but say, "The maid element is repeated! Could it be that Master has fallen for us and gotten tired of us?"

"What's so good about those demons turned women? Even their tails don't feel as comfortable to touch as Little Blue's. Those women will surround their master, surely to ambush him until he kneels, and then capture him to be a hard-working slave!"

“Little Blue, what’s the point of having such a vivid imagination? Besides, ‘summoner’ and ‘maid’ are completely different.” Hayato’s hand, which was pressing down on her head, answered Little Blue. After pressing the suddenly jumping Little Blue back into the card box, Hayato continued, “Although the name ‘Arianna’ seems fine, if Professor Chronos were here, he would immediately recognize that ‘Arianna’ is the Italian pronunciation, referring to the mythological princess Ariadne.”

"However, the [Ariana] that appears at this moment is merely a servant of the [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth], and her effect activates when she is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned."

"Go, [Ariana], quickly bring out my treasured possessions. I want Hayato to clearly understand how powerful we are, oh ho ho ho~" [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth] waved her hand, directing [Ariana] to insert a key from the key chain into the palace gate behind Hayato.

A burst of light shone from the door, and then Kagemaru noticed that the scenery around him had changed. He was now in a large hall instead of outside the palace. Above him, a chandelier decorated with a dragon head suddenly fell and fell into Hayato's hand, where he caught it and it turned into a card.

"If 【Ariana the Silver City's Summoner】 is successfully Summoned or Special Summoned, this effect is activated. Add one 【Rabilins】 card from my Deck to my hand, other than 【Ariana the Silver City's Summoner】. I chose 【Dragon Lantern of the Silver City】."

After adding "Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle" to his hand, Hayato drew another card from his hand and sent it to the graveyard, saying, "Then I will discard "Mad Clock of the Silver Castle" from my hand to activate it. If I have a "Rabilinus" monster on my field this turn, I can activate a Normal Trap Card during the turn I set it."

Hayato's card was taken to the cemetery, and Kagemaru noticed that a clock hanging on the wall in the hall suddenly opened its eyes, and a bat jumped out of its striking window. Following the chandelier, was even the clock on the wall part of the labyrinth? This made Kagemaru want to stay away from the fireplace and other furniture in the hall; who knew if these things would suddenly turn into Hayato's monsters too?

After discarding [The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle], Hayato still had three cards left in his hand. However, he didn't seem to care about controlling his hand. Instead, he decisively showed off [The Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle], which he had just added to his hand, and sent it to the graveyard, saying, "Then I'm going to use [The Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle] to send this card from my hand and field to the graveyard, and then discard a card to activate its effect."

Hayato sent a card with an unclear meaning to the graveyard. Immediately afterwards, Kagemaru saw the dragon lamp that had fallen into Hayato's hand earlier jump out of the card again. It was commanded by [Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] to fly up and hang back above the hall, disguised as an ordinary chandelier.

The candles on the chandelier burned with vibrant blue and yellow flames, and the melted wax dripped onto the ground, conjuring up a card that was placed face-down on Hayato's back row. Hayato's voice rang out at the same time: "With the effect of [Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle], I select one [Rabilins] Spell/Trap Card from my hand/Deck and place it face-down on my back row. I choose [Rabilins Welcome, Welcome, Great Welcome]."

"If a card from my hand is sent to the Graveyard due to the effect of a [Rabilins] card other than [The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle] or the activation of a Normal Trap, the second effect of [The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle] in the Graveyard is activated, and I choose to add it to my hand or Special Summon it."

【The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle】【1☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[0/0]

After a series of chain reactions, Hayato had only one card left in his hand, but he successfully summoned three monsters on his field and also prepared a face-down card in his back field.

"It's a bit tedious, but preparation is essential for a fun maze, and we're almost done now." Hayato smiled as he pressed the button to activate the face-down card, saying, "You probably haven't forgotten the effect of [Silver Castle's Mad Clock] that I activated earlier this turn, right? If I have a [Rabillins] monster on my field, this face-down card on my back field can be activated immediately during the turn it's set!"

"I activate my Normal Trap Card, 【Rabillins Welcome, Welcome, Welcome】!"

The moment the cover was lifted, a gust of wind blew through the previously peaceful room. Petals, seemingly from nowhere, drifted to Hayato's side, and a double-edged axe appeared and disappeared amidst the dance of petals.

"Big Welcome Labrynth!" Seeing Hayato use her treasured card, [Shirogane-hime] was extremely excited and raised her weapon high as she spoke.

Beside her, her servant Ariana spoke up, "Welcome, Labyrinth..."

After Hayato activated his face-down card, the Duel Disk automatically retrieved a card, which he caught. Holding that card, Hayato said, "The effect of 【Labyrinth Welcome Welcome Big Welcome】 is to Special Summon 1 【Labyrinth】 monster from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard, and then return 1 monster I control to its owner's hand."

"I choose to Special Summon this card from my deck in Attack Position!"

"At the deepest part of the endless labyrinth, amidst a throne blooming with flowers, O pure white princess under the moon, come before me!"

"【Rabillins of Silver City】!"

Under Kagemaru's gaze, a hand grasped a double-bladed giant axe amidst the fluttering petals. A silver-haired girl, whose appearance was identical to that of the "Silver Princess of the Labyrinth," or even just a different outfit with her armor removed, stood beside Hayato, wielding the double-bladed axe. Without a doubt, she was the "Minotaur," a being even closer to the original than the "Silver Princess of the Labyrinth"!

【Rabilins of the Silver City】【8☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[2900/1900]

Seeing that Hayato had summoned another monster with an attack power of 2900, Kagemaru couldn't help but feel a little nervous. However, after recalling the effect of "Labyrinth Welcome, Welcome, Great Welcome" that Hayato had just mentioned, he calmed down and even gave Hayato a cold smile, saying, "Special Summoning such a powerful monster directly from the deck, that trap card is indeed very strong, but how are you going to deal with the subsequent effect?"

"The effect of returning one monster you control to your hand shouldn't be an optional activation, but rather a guaranteed activation. Which card would you choose to return to your hand?"

Hearing Kagemaru's words, Hayato also showed a troubled expression: "Indeed, powerful cards are often accompanied by great risks. It's really giving me a headache that such a powerful card like Daihana requires me to return a card to my hand... just kidding."

"Among the monsters on my field, the weakest is undoubtedly the 0-ATK, 0-DEF 'Silver Castle Mad Clock', so the monster I choose to return to my hand is naturally 'Silver Castle Mad Clock'."

After removing the card "The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle" from the Duel Disk, Kagemaru thought the chain effect was almost over. However, to his surprise, the moment "The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle" was picked up from Hayato's Duel Disk, the cards of the two "White Princesses" in Hayato's Graveyard and on the field lit up simultaneously.

The next moment, Kagemaru saw [Rabilins of the Silver Castle] swinging his double-bladed giant axe at him!?

Chapter 1176 The Labyrinth of Silver City

Under Kagemaru's surprised and puzzled gaze, [Rabilins of the Silver Castle] swung the giant axe in his hand. The airflow was shattered by the heavy and sharp axe blade, turning into several intertwined "wind blades" that attacked him and then hit his hand.

Then, Kagemaru watched helplessly as one of the cards in his hand was shattered and sent to the graveyard by the attack of [Rabilins of the Silver Castle]!

"When a Normal Trap Card is activated, I can activate the effect of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] on my field." Since it is the "time" when the card is blocked rather than the "circumstance", Hayato first activates the effect of the first Normal Trap Card that appears on his field, [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle]: "Choose one Normal Trap Card from my Deck whose name is different from that activated Normal Trap Card and set it to my back row."

It wasn't until then, when the monster's effects had clearly begun to resolve and one of Kagemaru's cards had already been destroyed, that he heard Hayato begin explaining the effects of his cards. And it wasn't just the "Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle" card on the field; he went on to explain the effects of the cards in his graveyard and the "Rabillins of the Silver Castle" card on the field, which had been rebranded.

"Then there's the 'Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle' that I previously discarded from my graveyard. Its second effect can only be activated if this card is in the graveyard and a monster leaves the field due to the effect of my trap card. It uses its own effect to return the 'Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle' from my graveyard to my hand."

"Finally, there's the effect of my [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] on my field. It can only be activated if a monster leaves the field due to the effect of my Trap Card. Destroy one card from your opponent's field or hand."

After a long explanation of the effects, even Hayato had to pause for a moment to catch his breath before continuing: "C1 [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] C2 [Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle] C3 [Rabillins of the Silver Castle], the chain works first, and the effect of [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] is dealt with first."

"I'll choose to destroy the opponent's hand, specifically the card on their far right."

Hearing this, Kagemaru said unhappily, "Before you said that, your monster had already destroyed the cards in my hand!"

"Doesn't that make it seem like [Rabillins] has good accuracy?"

Hearing Hayato's praise, she planted the axe in the ground, proudly covered her mouth, and let out a queenly laugh of "Oh ho ho ho," completely disregarding the fact that this action would damage the floor tiles in her house and would also trouble the servants and increase their workload.

Following the effect of [Rabillins of the Silver Castle], [Dragon Lantern of the Silver Castle] was dealt with. Watching Hayato recall it to his hand, Kagemaru felt as if he had figured out a pattern: "The so-called [Silver Castle], could it be a deck that uses the triggering of trap cards to chain effects?"

"Moreover, those low-level furniture-shaped demons have the ability to be discarded from the hand and sent to the graveyard to activate their effects, as well as to be recycled and reused under certain conditions."

"It looks luxurious and exquisite, with dazzling silver everywhere, but the essence of this deck is clearly the kind of 'heavy trap hell' deck that is most often mentioned in the duelist circle!"

Hayato raised an eyebrow at Kagemaru and said, "Your insight is surprisingly good. Although you didn't explain it completely, you did see the specific operational strategy of [Silver Castle]. It is indeed the kind of deck that places traps and waits for challengers to trigger them, but it's not a heavy trap. It's clearly a standard operational deck."

"You think I'll believe your nonsense just because you changed your name? Your deck is a terrible deck for life!" Kagemaru couldn't help but complain. "I've heard you call yourself a 'pure love party' countless times while I was investigating you, but even the deck you use is based on 'Tauren'!"

"If I've liked 'Nu's' from the beginning, how can that not be considered pure love?"

Hayato retorted confidently, catching a card retrieved from the Duel Disk and inserting it into the Spell & Trap Zone: "Next up is the effect of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle], which places a Mysterious Faceless Card from my Deck onto my backrow."

"Finally, I will use the second effect of [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] to place a Normal Trap Card from my Graveyard to my back field. That card cannot be activated unless there is a Fiend monster on my field."

On Hayato's field, [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] and [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] each gave orders, directing the activated demon furniture and the only servant [Ariana] to move two cards to Hayato's back field. After completing all the preparations, Hayato lowered his hand and said, "Then, my turn ends here."

[Hayato: 4000LP, 3 cards in hand]

【The Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle】【DEF2900】

[Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] [DEF2100]

[Rabilins of Silver City] [ATK2900]

【Signature Card】【Signature Card】

Location: [Silver Labyrinth City]

In just one turn, Hayato set up a defensive barrier on his field consisting of three Fiend-Type monsters with decent stats, supported by two face-down cards in the back row. This setup seemed rather conventional. It wasn't bad, but Kagemaru felt that Hayato's final pressure wasn't as strong as the previous Manjoume kid.

What? So this is all the Duel King is capable of? I thought he was some kind of super powerful player. No, it's probably because he used that seemingly weak female monster deck. Women just slow down a duelist's card draw speed, even though he understands that himself and has never married.

Hayato Kobayashi, you'd better drown your weakling monsters!