Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

He quickly figured out the reason and looked at Hayato's [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] on the field.

"Tsk, when I activated the Normal Trap Card [Altar of Sacrifice] just now, did it chain-activate the effect of your [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle]?"

Despite his displeased expression, Kagemaru was secretly overjoyed. Now that he could activate [High-Intensity Flame Wave] to boost [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]'s attack power, he no longer found Hayato's endless stream of trap cards annoying or irritating. In fact, he wished Hayato would use even more trap cards, as that would further increase [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]'s attack power, making it even more satisfying for him to unleash his attacks.

Hayato, unaware of what Kagemaru was thinking, simply shrugged helplessly and said, "Although your [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] has resistance, I can do without trap cards, but I can't do without gaining card advantage. Every extra card I can search from the deck is a good one."

“I can’t enter the combat phase or deal damage this round, which is really troublesome.” After a pause, Hayato glanced at the huge [Earthbound God] behind him, “However, it seems that the appearance of [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] has successfully suppressed the absorption power of your 'Seven Essences Unlocking Gate' and temporarily stopped the absorption of power.”

Hayato's "Earthbound Gods" are beings that ravaged another land five thousand years ago. The "Earthbound Gods" that have survived to this day in the form of giant paintings engraved on the earth have unexpectedly gained a certain degree of control over the field, in addition to being restricted by Field Spell Cards. For example, when Yusei Fudo and his friends duel with the Dark Spot Man who possesses an "Earthbound God," they will be forcibly pulled into the Field Spell Card that the "Earthbound God" will unleash.

Kagemaru's [Paradise Lost] granted the "Three Phantom Demons" resistance, but Hayato unexpectedly gained some of the [Paradise Lost]'s power using the power of [Earthbound God], thus infiltrating the "Seven Spirits Unlock Gate" that operated around the "Three Phantom Demons." At least until Kagemaru defeats [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska], he can no longer absorb human life force and spirit power. In this way, Hayato no longer needs to rush and can slowly engage in duels.

"Defeat that 'god'? There's no need for that. I still really want the power of that card, so for me, defeating you is enough, Kobayashi Hayato. I'll use my [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]!"

Kagemaru's eyes were filled with greed as he looked at the Earthbound God. He was unaware of the danger of the Earthbound God and only saw its immense power. His mind was filled with the perfect fantasy of becoming invincible after defeating Hayato and possessing the power of the Earthbound God, the Three Phantom Demons, and Darkness.

Then, Kagemaru saw Hayato suddenly pull a card from the graveyard and say, "Use [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]? I don't think that monster has any power to defeat me. So the key is that only face-down card you have in your back row?"

"As punishment for those who oppose me, I'll use this card to extinguish your hopes." Hayato said, taking out a "Labyrinth Welcome Welcome Grand Welcome" card from his graveyard. "You can activate this effect by banishing 'Labyrinth Welcome Welcome Grand Welcome' from my graveyard and targeting a Fiend-Type monster on my field, returning it to its owner's hand. This effect can successfully trigger the 'Labyrinth's' 'Normal Trap that removes monsters from the field' effect."

"However, it's a different story when I have a Fiend monster of level 8 or higher on my field. The second half of the effect of [Labyrinth Welcome Welcome Big Welcome] can instead target one card on your opponent's field!"

"I chose the only face-down card in the opponent's backcourt!"

Without making a move on the two Continuous Spell Cards and one Continuous Trap Card that Kagemaru had revealed in the back row, Hayato pointed directly at Kagemaru's last face-down card—the one that Kagemaru considered his greatest hope for victory, [High-pitched Flame Wave]!

Although it wasn't destruction, Kagemaru almost had a heart attack when he heard Hayato's command—if [High-pitched Flame Wave] was bounced back into his hand by the effect of [Labyrinth Welcome Welcome Big Welcome], he would have to wait another turn to activate it again, and who knew how many variables might occur during that time?

However, he had no ability to stop Hayato and could only watch helplessly as the [High-pitched Flame Wave] was about to be bounced back into his hand!

"Rather than let you just return the card to my hand like that..." Having made up his mind, Kagemaru pressed the button to activate the face-down card without hesitation. "Then I'll chain the effect of [Rabillins Welcome Welcome Big Welcome] to open the face-down cards in my back row, and activate the Continuous Trap Card [High-pitched Flame Wave]!"

"And I immediately use its effect: once per turn, I discard one card from my hand to target one of the 'Three Egyptian Gods' in my graveyard, either add it to my hand or Special Summon it!"

Similar to [Thunderbolt of Lost Paradise], which has an even better effect than [Thunderbolt Emperor - Hamon], [High-pitched Flame Wave], named after the attack move of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], also has an enhanced version of the resurrection effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], with its range directly expanded to all the "Three Phantom Demons".

The Trap Card "Royal Decree" in his hand was sent to the Graveyard by Kagemaru, who waved his hand and said, "It's back on my field in attack position!"

"【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】!"

Chapter 1183 The Enlightened Are Always Happy

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【ATK4000】

Like a giant golden bat, [Thunder Emperor Hamon] returned to Kagemaru's field. Since Hayato had already skipped his own battle phase this turn with the effect of [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska], the returning [Thunder Emperor Hamon] no longer needed to maintain its defense position to preserve its "Magnetic Field Rotation" ability.

The attack-positioned [Thunder Emperor - Hamon], combined with the [Thunderbolt of Lost Paradise] in the back row, gives Kagemaru another chance to counter a Spell/Trap effect that ignores chains.

However, looking at the [High-pitched Flame Wave] that had been bounced back into his hand, Kagemaru had a gloomy face and couldn't be happy at all.

The desperate comeback I had been looking forward to for so long was suddenly interrupted when I was just one step away from success. My perfect plan was forced to be canceled. It was as disgusting as having all five [Exodia] cards in my hand just as someone used a [Hand Elimination] card to wipe them out!

How could Kagemaru be happy about this? What's worse, that guy Kobayashi Hayato is still mocking him from the other side!

"Duel Monsters is a game that brings joy and smiles, and the King's duel must be entertaining. You're dueling the King of Duels—I, Hayato Kobayashi, why aren't you smiling, Kagemaru? Is it because you don't want to?"

Hayato looked at Kagemaru and said, "You refuse to laugh, yet you're unwilling to die, which puts me in a difficult position..."

Seeing that Kagemaru was just sitting there with a dark expression and didn't say a word, Hayato felt rather bored, so he opened a card in the back row and said: "Activate the Trap Card [Rabilins Welcome], you can freely summon any [Rabilins] monster from my Deck to the field."

"But I guess you wouldn't just stand by and watch me use this effect to Special Summon a new [Rabirins] monster, would you?"

The duel with Hayato has already entered its third round. Even Kagemaru has long understood the characteristics of the "pure Silver Castle" deck that Hayato is using this time. The trap cards that are constantly being summoned are annoying, but what is really annoying are the furniture and minions that set up these traps.

Hayato's three pieces of furniture that he used before have all been sent to the graveyard and are no longer in his hand. Cards like "The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle," which can activate a trap card on the turn it is set, will not be retrieved by Hayato. The same applies to other pieces of furniture that can retrieve trap cards and trigger the recycling effect of "The Mad Clock of the Silver Castle" in the graveyard.

Even if Kagemaru has "Awakened Three Phantoms" on the field, it's useless, because all of Hayato's "Silver Castle" furniture are monster cards that activate their effects when sent to the Graveyard. Sending them to the Graveyard is part of the cost, not the effect. "Awakened Three Phantoms" can only negate the effects activated by Hayato on the field, and it can't affect those demon furniture at all.

Even though he knew that Kobayashi Hayato's easy relinquishment of the opportunity to negate the effect was definitely part of some conspiracy, Kagemaru could only grit his teeth and accept it. After all, he really didn't want to see those endless, tedious chains that could grow to chain 4 or chain 5 again.

"Don't command the gods!" Kagemaru shouted in dissatisfaction, but he could only obediently use the effects of the cards on the field as Hayato had planned. "Tch, then the effect of [Thunder of Pain], the effect of the Trap Card [Rabillins Welcome], and then change my [Thunder Emperor Hamon], which is in Attack Position, to Defense Position."

The scattered lightning was frozen again. Since its appearance, [Thunder Emperor Hamon] has spent more time frozen than using lightning as its name suggests. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to change its name to "Ice Emperor"?

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【ATK4000→DEF4000】

The spreading ice covered the [Labyrinth Welcome] card that Hayato had just activated. Although the card was successfully activated, its effect was negated, leaving the [Labyrinths] on Hayato's field with nothing to show for their welcome. The card was thus sent to Hayato's graveyard.

Previously, the removal of "Labyrinth Welcome, Welcome, Great Welcome" reduced the variety of trap cards in Hayato's graveyard by one, thus lowering the attack power of "Silver Castle Statue" by 400. However, now that another "Labyrinth Welcome" has entered the graveyard, its attack power has returned to 3600.

Not surprised that the card was negated, Hayato flipped over another card and said, "Since it's negated, I'll activate this Quick-Play Spell Card, [Rabilins Deployment], targeting two [Rabilins] Spell/Trap Cards other than [Rabilins Deployment] from my Graveyard and banished cards."

From Hayato's graveyard, Ariana, the "Summoner of the Silver Castle," who had left the field but was now merely retreating to the background to continue her attack, poked her head out and waved her keychain, directing the furniture that was also busy in the graveyard. She then brought out "Labyrinth Welcome," which Hayato had just sent to the graveyard, and the banished "Labyrinth Welcome, Welcome, Big Welcome," and added them to Hayato's deck.

Hayato continued, "If the target card returns to my deck, and there is a Fiend-Type monster on my field, I can choose the number of Normal Trap Cards (excluding the 'Rabilins' card) from my deck and set them to my field. Since I return two cards to my deck, I set both cards to my back field."

Kagemaru could do nothing about it, watching helplessly as Hayato's set-top cards in the back row increased to four, without decreasing at all. The only thing that probably decreased was the attack power of his [Silver Castle Statue] on the field.

【The Demon Statue of the Silver Castle】【ATK3600→3200】

Hayato glanced at the cards in his hand, drew one face-down and placed it on the back row to fill the last empty space, then announced, "I've placed one card face-down, and my turn is over."

[Hayato: 4500LP, 4 cards in hand]

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

[Rabilins of Silver City] [ATK2900]

【The Demon Statue of the Silver Castle】【ATK3200】

【Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska】【ATK1】

[GaiK] X5

Five face-down cards were enough to make one's head spin. Kagemaru could imagine that breaking through Hayato's defense in the next turn would be an impossible task. Without the assistance of [High-Intensity Flame Wave], defeating Kobayashi Hayato in one turn was simply too difficult.

However, he cannot fail to do it; he must do it, because Hayato still has [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] on his field. Its ability to forcibly modify life points cannot be protected even by the power of [Thunder Emperor - Hamon]. If Hayato Kobayashi were to pull out some cards that directly cause effect damage, it would be extremely dangerous, because if he only focuses on defense, he will eventually make a mistake.

We must defeat Kobayashi Hayato in this round, and we must get around his troublesome monsters to reduce his base score!

"My turn, draw a card—"

A crucial draw came into view: the third entity in Kagemaru's deck, the yet-to-be-released "Phantom Demon," and the strongest of the "Three Phantom Demons," [Phantom Demon King - Rabiel]. Drawing a powerful monster should have been a cause for celebration for Kagemaru, but instead, [Phantom Demon King - Rabiel] directly led to an awkward situation where his hand was clogged.

The reason is simple: [Phantom King - Rabiel], like the other two "Phantoms", cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned by Kagemaru by Tributing three monsters on the field. However, even if you include the two "Phantoms" on the field, Kagemaru only has two monsters on the field. Where would he get three monsters to Tribute [Phantom King - Rabiel]?

What should have been a hopeful gacha pull plunged Kagemaru into despair.

"Why, why!" Unwilling to accept defeat under such a bad hand, Kagemaru muttered angrily, though it was unclear who he was venting his anger on. "Those people in the videos can draw any card they want, so why can't I draw the card I want when I want it!"

"Fool, true duelists can draw whatever they want, and even the fate of their card draws is in their own hands." Hayato said disdainfully, looking at the impotently furious Kagemaru. "You should ask yourself if you are a duelist. Putting aside everything else, whether it's me, Yugi, Kaiba, Jonouchi, or even Ryuzaki, we are all true duelists who have the resolve to fight to the very end with our cards."

"But you are not a duelist, Kagemaru. You have never placed any trust in your cards, have you? The best example is that in your duel with Manjoume just now, when you were in dire straits, you did not choose to trust your [Magic Bullets], but abandoned them and chose the power of 'Darkness'. Now that you have obtained the 'Three Phantom Demons', they have disappeared from your deck without a trace."

"If you're not prepared to fight alongside the cards to the very end, then why should the cards lend you a hand when you're in despair?"

"Shut up, you brat!" Hearing Hayato's words, Kagemaru was furious and resentful. "In the end, cards are just tools. Even if they have powerful abilities, they're just useful tools. Stop using that nonsense to humiliate me!"

"I'm going to use the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uriah]. Without the suppression of [Predatory Plant - Rhinoceros Horn Dragon], His 'Trap Destruction' power can be used again, destroying all the trap cards on the opponent's field once per turn!"

Hayato has a total of five face-down cards in his back row, and four of them are clearly trap cards. Even if the card Hayato face-down at the end of the previous turn was a spell card, it doesn't matter. With the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], it can destroy at least four of them.

At this moment, Kagemaru no longer cared whether Hayato's back row had any cards like "Troublemaker" that could activate their effects even if destroyed by the opponent. He only wanted to use the effect of "God Flame Emperor - Uria" to vent his anger and dampen Hayato's momentum.

However, just as [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] was about to roar, a card in Hayato's back row was opened, and a piece of paper flew out and stuck to [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]'s mouth, interrupting its roar and forcing it back down. Kagemaru looked and saw that the paper had the word "Suka" written on it, and the card Hayato opened was actually a Trap Card?

"How is that possible!? The 'Three Phantom Demons' shouldn't be affected by trap card effects, nor should they be the target of the opponent's card effects—"

"The Trap Card [False Trap] can only be activated when the effect of a Spell/Trap/Effect Monster that would destroy a Trap Card on my field is activated by my opponent." Hayato interrupted Kagemaru, moving the button on his hand away from the face-down card, and explained, "Its effect is simply to replace destruction, preventing my other Trap Cards from being destroyed. Now that you know the effect of your [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], do you think I would place five face-down cards unprepared for you to destroy them?"

Hearing Hayato's taunts, Kagemaru clearly felt his blood pressure rise, but even the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] hadn't been able to clearly activate the cards in Hayato's back row. How could he possibly fight this turn? Distracted, Kagemaru didn't even bother to carefully identify which cards Hayato had flipped over to check.

The extreme anger and despair in his heart caused Kagemaru to gradually fall into an abnormal calm as he looked at the two cards with unclear meanings in his hand. The black aura wrapped around his right palm, which was marked with a golden "Eye of Ugato", churned.

"So what if I don't have that kind of pointless 'enlightenment'? I have another kind of 'enlightenment'—the 'enlightenment' to give up everything! Whatever happens, takes my soul, it doesn't matter." Raising his palm, Kagemaru said with a ferocious expression, "I will become a 'god'! A 'god' who transcends all things and lives forever!"

"The effect of [Paradise Lost] activates, I draw two more cards from my deck!"

The crimson forbidden fruit fell into Kagemaru's hands once more, transforming into two cards. Upon touching these cards, which emanated a dangerous aura, Kagemaru trembled, then revealed an expression of ecstatic joy. It was as if a drowning person had grabbed onto a piece of driftwood. Whether it could sustain him or not was another matter, but at least Kagemaru had touched something called hope.

Moreover, in Kagemaru's view, those two cards could no longer be described as mere "hope"; they were clearly "victory," a sign that "fate" was on his side!

"Hehe, hehehehehehehe! You're absolutely right, Hayato Kobayashi! The most important thing is 'resolve,' that's for sure!" Kagemaru's laughter was tinged with madness. "Indeed, for someone like me who will eventually become a 'god,' 'fate' has always been my partner. Everything before was just a trial it gave me. 'Resolve!' 'Resolve' has blown away my despair. Those who are resolved are forever happy!"

As he pulled out a card and inserted it into the magic trap area, Kagemaru's smile vanished, replaced by a chilling and venomous expression. "Then, the trial will end after the bloodshed!"

"Spell Card [Dimensional Fusion Kill], activated!"

Even if [Phantom Demon Emperor - Rabiel] doesn't meet the conditions for appearing, it doesn't matter, because under the effect of [Dimensional Fusion Kill] in Kagemaru's hand, the "Three Phantom Demons" will merge into a stronger form and descend, making no difference whether they are in the hand or on the field!

Otherwise, how could it be said that "fusion summoning is the noblest form of summoning"?

A fusion vortex appeared in front of Kagemaru, who was surrounded by the [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] and [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] on the field. Behind him, the phantom of the [Phantom Demon Emperor - Labiell] who had not yet appeared also appeared. In the shadows behind the three "Phantom Demons", several scarlet eyes opened in the dark purple sky.

"Ban off the two 'Phantom Demons' on my field and the three monsters in my hand, namely 'Phantom Demon King - Rabiel,' as Fusion Material, and in the name of 'Nurture,' become the placenta and foundation for the birth of 'God,' you three Phantom Demons!"

Kagemaru's lips curled into a ferocious grin: "Ultimate power is drawing closer to me. This suffocating sense of oppression... it is undoubtedly the true 'god'!"

Its left arm is the demon god of light and fire—[Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], its right arm is the demon god of ice and lightning—[Thunder Emperor - Hamon], and its torso is the demon god representing sacrifice and domination—[Phantom Demon Emperor - Rabiel]. The three demon gods merge into one, transforming into a colossal god with wings that blot out the sky and a long, dragon-like body. The fusion monster card with a purple border is placed on the Duel Disk by Kagemaru.

"Descend, my ace, the 'god' I believe in!"

"[Chaos Phantom-Amitair]!"

"Despair before the ultimate phantom demon, before the gods, Kobayashi Hayato!"

Chapter 1184 Amitel

The so-called Armityle is a transformation of Almisae, the angel of "uterus" and "childbirth" in Jewish mythology. The Chaos Phantom Demon - Armityle summoned by Kagemaru does indeed resemble the image of those angels in ancient religious mythology who are even more demonic than demons.

[Chaos Phantom-Amitel] [12☆/Dark]

[Phantom Beast Race/Fusion/Effect]

[0/0]

Despite its high level of 12☆, [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] does not have high attack and defense stats, and even has two rather conspicuous "0" values.

As we all know, monsters with 0 attack and 0 defense are mostly monsters, since without reliable attack and defense, they have to rely on their effects to find a way to cause trouble. And the effect of [Chaos Phantom - Amitair] is—

"【Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel】, as the strongest form formed by the fusion of the three 'Phantom Demons', not only possesses the same resistances, but also gains the same resistances from the Field Spell Card 【Paradise Lost】, which prevents it from becoming the target of the opponent's effects and from being destroyed by the opponent's effects!"

Looking at his [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] on the field, Kagemaru said smugly, "Although its attack power is 0, because of the effect of [Dimensional Fusion Kill], the battle damage I take from [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] summoned by [Dimensional Fusion Kill] will become 0. At the same time, [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] cannot be destroyed by battle, so its mere existence means that I am invincible!"