Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Furthermore, the effect of [Chaos Illusion Demon - Amitel] allows you to inflict 10000 battle damage to your opponent's monster once per turn while this card is in Attack Position. This is equivalent to using a monster with 10000 ATK to fight against your opponent's monster. This means that even without entering the Battle Phase, I can still reap your life and soul!"

Pointing at the monsters on Hayato's field, ignoring the [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] whose defense indicated that it wouldn't cause battle damage even if attacked, Kagemaru's gaze lingered on [The Demon Statue of the Silver Castle], [Rabilins of the Silver Castle], and [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska].

He did want to choose [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska], which had the most dangerous effect, but just like the "Phantom Demons" had incredibly strong resistance in Kagemaru's eyes, [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] also had resistance that made Kagemaru quite troublesome. At the same time, it was unaffected by magic and trap cards, which was even better than the "Three Phantom Demons", not to mention its shameless ability not to become the target of the opponent's attack.

The effect of 【Chaos Phantom - Amitel】 can be considered an attack that is not an attack. Although it transcends the limitations of the battle phase, it is still restricted by rules such as "target of attack". Therefore, although 【Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska】 is only "1 point" stronger than 【Chaos Phantom - Amitel】 with 0 attack and 0 defense, Kagemaru really can't do anything to it.

But if I can't defeat monsters, can't I at least defeat duelists? Although I'm terrified of the effect of [Earthbound God - Veracruz], can't I just take down Hayato Kobayashi before that happens? The method is to use the effect of [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] to attack Hayato's Attack Position monsters. No monster can withstand that 10000 battle damage, and the excess damage will wipe out Hayato Kobayashi's Life Points!

Kagemaru's gaze finally settled on the [Silver Castle Demon Statue], the one he had nearly been ambushed by during his previous attack. That humiliation was still etched in his heart, and he resolutely chose the [Silver Castle Demon Statue], which, while not particularly important, was the one that annoyed him the most. "The monster I've chosen is that [Silver Castle Demon Statue]! May it be reduced to ashes by the attack of [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel]!"

"Whether it's that monster or you, Hayato Kobayashi!" Kagemaru waved his hand and shouted, "Annihilate the entire land with Tenseiha!"

Since the attack wasn't launched during combat, [Chaos Phantom - Amitair] itself didn't act; it simply released a spinning purple energy ball that flew towards Hayato. Although it started as a small, seemingly harmless object, as it traveled further, the ball expanded by absorbing air, quickly growing into a giant "meteor" nearly two people tall!

"Isn't this an attack of attack? It's rare to find something new. It's a pity that the sense of oppression is still not enough. If the scene here were changed to a sunset, and the attack power were increased by 6000 points to become 16000 points, it would be better." Facing the attack from Kagemaru, Hayato had a calm expression, as calm as if he were letting a fighter pilot ride a rocking horse.

"16000 points? Are you so scared that you're talking nonsense? What monster can boost its attack power to that level!"

"You're just a frog in a well, unable to imagine how vast the world is." Hayato shook his head upon hearing Kagemaru's words. "Besides, you think you can scare me with something like this? You're still 20,000 years too early!"

"Open the cover card in my backcourt—"

"A common trap card, [Dimensional Wall]!"

Seeing that Hayato didn't pull out a card like [Rainbow Kuriboh] from his hand, but instead opened his face-down card in the back row, Kagemaru breathed a sigh of relief and sneered at Hayato: "Are you an idiot? I made it very clear just now, [Chaos Phantom - Amitair] is also a 'Phantom,' it is not affected by the effects of Spell Cards that are not activated in the current turn, nor by the effects of Trap Cards, and it cannot be targeted by the opponent's effects nor destroyed by effects."

"Are you trying to make me laugh by pulling out a trap card when facing the attack of [Chaos Phantom - Amitel]?!"

“Well, I have a question for you too, Kagemaru.” Looking at the arrogantly laughing Kagemaru, Hayato showed a rather confused expression. “When exactly did you come to the conclusion that the card [Dimensional Wall] is a trap card that affects your monsters?”

"What?!"

Just as Hayato finished speaking, Kagemaru saw a twisted, dark purple vortex suddenly open up in the open space between him and Hayato, precisely intercepting the attack "All-Earth Annihilation Natural Wave" of [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel]. The narrow opening expanded instantly upon contact with the latter, swallowing it all up and disappearing to Kagemaru's astonishment!

“You were probably thinking before that since [Earthbound God - Veracocha Rasca] has resistance, it’s not like the duelists have resistance. Even if you can’t defeat [Earthbound God - Veracocha Rasca], ​​you can still win the duel by defeating me, right? I’ll give you the same situation back, Kagemaru.” Hayato snapped his fingers and said, “[Dimensional Wall] can only be activated when the opponent’s monster declares an attack. In that battle, the battle damage I received was used as a substitute, and the opponent took it for me.”

"What good is your [Chaos Illusion Demon - Amitair]'s resistance? After destroying my [Silver Castle Demon Statue], you will bear all the remaining combat damage after the initial 10000 points of combat damage!"

On Hayato's field, although the target of the attack, [Silver Castle Demon Statue], was not directly harmed due to the protection of [Dimensional Wall], she still needed to leave the field and enter the graveyard as a token gesture. She bowed to Hayato and [Silver Castle Labyrinth], and the silver knight ran to the graveyard with her cards.

After listening to Hayato's explanation, Kagemaru suddenly turned around and saw the attack of [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel], which was emerging from the exit of another distorted space tunnel and attacking him.

His eyes widened instantly!

"Wait a minute—"

"boom!"

Hayato's [Silver Castle Statue] has an attack power of 3200 points. Therefore, after reducing the attack power of [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel], there are still 6800 points left. All of these will be converted into damage to Kagemaru, which will be borne by his remaining 3501 base points.

The expanding energy blast exploded the moment it touched Kagemaru, because he glanced at it for too long. The powerful shockwave swept around and almost snapped the withered tree in the center of the [Paradise Lost] arena. However, Hayato was unharmed. [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] even stretched out its wide wings to shield Hayato from the strong wind so that his hair wouldn't be blown into a slicked-back shape.

Under normal circumstances, Kagemaru's 3501 life points would be far too low to withstand such a move, but judging from the fact that [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] on Kagemaru's field showed no signs of dissipating, the duel was not over.

As expected, after the dust from the explosive attack dissipated, Kagemaru was still unharmed, seemingly unaffected by the effects of [Chaos Illusion Demon - Amitair]. However, his body was covered in visible beads of sweat, showing that he had been extremely flustered and nervous just now.

"Hmph, no, that's all. Your counterattack won't scare me at all!" Although Kagemaru's voice was still loud, Hayato could clearly hear that he wasn't calm at all. If Hayato were lying on the ground right now, he might even be able to hear Kagemaru's rapid heartbeat. "I am a 'god,' and how could a 'god' be harmed by his own power!"

"The effect of [Thunder of Lost Paradise] can be triggered if any three 'Phantoms' leave the field during this turn, making me immune to damage again, whether it is effect damage or combat damage."

As if to emphasize his point, Kagemaru added, "Everything is going according to plan!"

"Yeah, right. I saw your face turn pale with fright just now. You're clearly only just now remembering the effects of [Thunderbolt of Paradise]. Not only are you covered in cold sweat, but your loincloth is soaked too!" Hayato retorted, pointing at Asakagemaru.

"What—!?" Upon hearing Hayato's words, Kagemaru hurriedly lowered his head in a panic, only to find that his loincloth was perfectly dry. He realized that Hayato was toying with him, and immediately raised his head angrily, "How dare you fool 'God'! You must be executed!"

"I'm still in my main phase one. I'm going to pay my 2000 life points to activate the strongest follow-up card to this [Dimensional Fusion Kill], [Dimensional Fusion]!" The second card I drew earlier with the effect of [Paradise Lost] was played by Kagemaru. At this moment, he only had the last revealed card, the continuous trap card [High-pitched Flame Wave], in his hand. However, he was full of confidence in activating [Dimensional Fusion] at this moment.

[Kagemaru: 3501 → 1501 LP]

Although [Thunderbolt of Pain] can reduce any damage Kagemaru takes to 0, it cannot reduce the Life Points he pays to 0. Under Hayato's pressure, Kagemaru, who has grown mentally at the age of ninety and is no longer timid, has the "resolve" to sacrifice everything to achieve his own goals. He is no longer like before, who dared not even lose Life Points to gain an advantage. Now, he actively gives up more than half of his Life Points to seek victory.

Looking at Kagemaru, brimming with fighting spirit, Hayato for a fleeting moment even felt that he might be the kind of villain who helps the protagonist grow. No, it must be an illusion; no matter how you look at it, a character as kind-hearted as himself should be a positive one.

The dark purple spatial vortex summoned by Hayato's [Dimensional Wall] reappeared, but no longer between Hayato and Kagemaru; instead, it was behind Kagemaru. Three enormous monster figures emerged from the three vortexes. At the same time, Kagemaru, clutching his heart which had momentarily stopped after paying his Life Points, said with a slightly ferocious expression on his face due to pain, "[Dimensional Fusion] is a forbidden final battle card that requires 2000 Life Points to activate. Although its effect applies indiscriminately to both players, at this moment, only I will enjoy its power, therefore it is my advantage."

"Its effect is that both players can Special Summon as many of their banished monsters as possible. At this moment, I am the only one with banished monsters. Therefore, I will Special Summon the three banished monsters of mine—no, in your words, not monsters but 'Phantoms'—the 'Three Phantoms'!"

"Return, my demons!"

A towering pillar of lava erupted from the ground, lightning tore through the sky, and a colossal blue body stood on the earth before Kagemaru's [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel]. The three fusion materials that had been excluded for the purpose of fusing and summoning it—the "Three Phantom Demons"—returned to Kagemaru's field!

【Divine Flame Emperor - Uria】【ATK? →4000】

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【ATK4000】

[Phantom Demon Emperor-Rabiel] [10☆/Dark]

[Phantom Beast Race/Effect]

[4000/4000]

Although they failed to annihilate Kobayashi Hayato in one blow with [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel], it doesn't matter. What returned with the effect of [Dimensional Fusion] were three Phantom Demons with an attack power of 4000 points each, not one, and their attack power was not 2000 or 3000 points, but a full 4000 points!

The cost is only a mere 2000 Life Points, but with the Three Phantoms present, not only does the Awakened Three Phantoms regain its effect, negating the effects of Kobayashi Hayato's monsters, but Summoned and Special Summoned monsters become Life Points that he recovers, and cards sent to Kobayashi Hayato's Graveyard are also banished.

As for Hayato Kobayashi's field, the three face-down cards are not a threat at all. The only two monsters on the field, one with 2900 ATK and the other with 2900 DEF, are easy targets. The Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska, which can't be attacked, can be skipped, because what follows is the direct attack of the "Three Phantoms"!

With the Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitair and all three of the "Three Phantom Demons" on the field, his chances of winning are skyrocketing! What in the world can stop him?! Damn it, what in the world can withstand him?!

Can I take down Kobayashi Hayato this round? Absolutely, easily!

"First, there's the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]. Having returned from the banished area, its effect can be activated again. I'm going to wipe you out, Kobayashi Hayato!" With a wave of his hand, Kagemaru used the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] once more to clear the back row. "Trap Destruction!"

High-frequency sound waves emanated from [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], sweeping towards Hayato's back row. Kagemaru thought this should be foolproof, especially since Hayato had already used a [False Trap] to protect his cards from destruction once before. However—

To Kagemaru's astonishment and confusion, a large number of characters and the numbers "0" and "1" appeared in Hayato's graveyard, actually reassembling the Normal Trap Card [False Trap] that had appeared before on his field.

【Divine Flame Emperor - Uria】’s open mouth was once again sealed by the paper slip that flew out from it. Its effect was actually thwarted twice in one round!

"What kind of tile is this!?"

Chapter 1185 Illusory Phantom Luo Shengmeng

"The Normal Trap Card [Transaction Rollback], the name of the card seems to come from computer terminology. If it were Rebecca or Keipi, they might be able to explain it to you in hundreds of words, but I can only tell you at most that it is an extremely powerful Normal Trap Card."

With a shrug, Hayato met Kagemaru's surprised gaze and said to himself, "The Silver Castle cannot lose the Transaction Rollback, just like the West cannot lose Jerusalem. Although I actually wanted to use Little Blue to create a bunch of threes, and then use the Transaction Rollback to copy the Resurrected Sky God... No, I wouldn't need to use that to deal with you."

"Who cares about those random things!" Kagemaru stared at Hayato's three untouched face-down cards in his back row, and the "[False Trap]" that had appeared out of nowhere on Hayato's field. "I'm asking you what happened to that card, where did it come from!"

"So, it's [Transaction Rollback], the [Transaction Rollback] card in my graveyard. You didn't think I'd just randomly throw cards into the graveyard like you, did you?"

Hayato took a Trap Card from the graveyard and showed it to Kagemaru. Hayato looked at Kagemaru's graveyard with disdain. There were several cards there that could be quite troublesome if used well, but look how Kagemaru used them.

"You don't need to know the effect of 【Transaction Reversal】 when it's a Set Trap Card. Here I'm using its second effect, which is the effect that can be activated by banishing this card from my Graveyard, paying me half of my Life Points, and then targeting one Normal Trap Card in my Graveyard other than 【Transaction Reversal】. 【Transaction Reversal】 will gain the same effect."

With a snap of his fingers, Hayato used magic to quickly replace the card hidden behind the [Transaction Rollback] with one in front of it. Without a high-speed camera, the naked eye would hardly be able to see Hayato's trick. Holding up the [False Trap], Hayato said, "For those without light, in pursuit of miracles, they are like moths drawn to a flame, ugly and relentless, rushing towards a candle flame that is almost like the sun."

"But what we don't know is that a miracle is called a miracle precisely because it only happens once, just like life, which should end when it's meant to end."

"However, the power of [Transaction Reversal] can recreate miracles, and even bypass those complicated activation conditions to directly obtain Trap Cards. Without a doubt, this is the divine talent of me as the strongest duelist! Woohoo!"

[Hayato: 4500→2250LP]

As Hayato voluntarily paid his base points, even though the amount he paid was higher, he didn't look like Kagemaru was in a terrible state at all. He even let out a strange "whoosh" for the power of [Transaction Rollback].

The effect of 【Divine Flame Emperor - Uria】 failed to activate smoothly, which was unexpected by Kagemaru, but also reasonable. Although he used the "Three Phantom Demons" cards with high expectations at the beginning, as the saying goes, "Aspiration is the furthest distance from understanding," or in other words, "distance makes the heart grow fonder."

After using it for a while, it's unclear whether it was Hayato's stereotypical prejudice that "the long, red monster is a traitorous dragon" that influenced Kagemaru, or whether Kagemaru himself saw through the outward strength but inner weakness of [God Flame Emperor - Uria], but in any case, Kagemaru himself had more or less a feeling that it might be a traitor.

After all, in order to revive [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria], he had already used up a total of four cards in his hand, including [Dimensional Fusion]. However, [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] had at least dealt with Hayato's cards, released and restored Kagemaru's life points, and protected Kagemaru from harm.

What about [Divine Flame Emperor - Uriah]? How many times did he successfully activate his effect? ​​The only time it succeeded, Hayato used it against him, creating a [Troublemaker] card! This guy is either completely useless or a traitor!

...Never mind, it doesn't matter if the effect of [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] fails to destroy the card again. After all, Kagemaru is afraid that Hayato will throw out a few new monsters because of this explosion. Rather, it's more to say that [Transaction Rewind] made Hayato pay out his life points, which suits him just fine.

Because, as Hayato's base score decreases, it becomes much easier for him to clear Hayato's base score!

"So what if you paid out Life Points to protect those face-down cards in your back row? With the 'Three Phantoms' lurking on my field, how dare you voluntarily lower your Life Points?" Kagemaru sneered and waved his hand. "In that case, I'll go straight into battle phase and use the 'Three Phantoms' to punish you for your disrespect!"

"Let us be defeated in regret and despair, Kobayashi Hayato!" Kagemaru said, waving his hand. "First, let's attack with [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] to destroy the defense position of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle], High-pitched Flame Wave!"

Although Kagemaru felt he probably wouldn't have another chance to use the Continuous Trap Card [High-Intensity Flame Wave] in his hand, at least he could still shout out the move's name when [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] attacked. Spiraling flames gathered in Uria's mouth as it inhaled, followed by a cone-shaped pillar of fire sweeping towards Hayato's [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle]!

"Whoa! What a loss of composure!" Although her attack power was comparable to that of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it was still a bit of a stretch for the Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle to fight against the Divine Flame Emperor - Uria, which had an attack power of 4000. Fortunately, because it was in defense position, it would not cause Hayato any battle damage. "To be defeated by a monster of this level, what a loss of composure!"

After the flames subsided, the card 【Silver Castle of the Labyrinth】 had been destroyed and banished due to the effect of 【Awakened Three Phantoms】. However, immediately afterward, a golden bat wielding an ice spear wrapped in lightning appeared on the field – 【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】.

"Then came the attack of [Thunder Emperor Hamon], which destroyed [Rabilins of the Silver Castle]!" Kagemaru said triumphantly. "[Rabilins of the Silver Castle] has an attack power of 2900 points, so you will suffer a full 1100 points of battle damage, and when [Thunder Emperor Hamon] destroys the monster and sends it to the graveyard, it will deal an additional 1000 points of effect damage!"

"The damage you ultimately suffer won't be 1100 points, but 2100 points. After that, your base score will be reduced to a mere 150 points!"

"The Thunderbolt of Lost Pleasure!"

The Thunder and Ice Spear was thrown, easily breaking the axe blade in the hand of [Rabilins of the Silver Castle]. The power of the Demon God Pillar Amon, whose prototype was used to control the rebellion, influenced the power of [Rabilins of the Silver Castle]. The axe blade that was knocked away, along with the overflowing electricity and frost, rushed towards Hayato.

“It can certainly be used next time…” Following its own disguise form, [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] was also destroyed by the battle, turning into particles and slowly dissipating. At the same time, [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] also looked back at the location where Hayato was, but the place was shrouded in the smoke and dust stirred up by the aftershocks of [Thunder Emperor - Hamon]'s attack.

Kagemaru has never believed in the "no harm without smoke" principle. In his view, since his attack undoubtedly destroyed the monster on Kobayashi Hayato's field, then it is only natural that he must have suffered high battle damage. After all, he did not use an ordinary monster, but the noble "Phantom Demon". The trap cards on his back field could not possibly be effective against the invincible "Phantom Demon".

Looking at the cloud of dust where Hayato had been, and though he hadn't heard a single cry of pain, Kagemaru had already deduced the "truth": "I see. Because the 'Phantom Demons' were too powerful, your base score was reduced to only 150 points in one go. You were probably overwhelmed by pain and lost your sense of self, weren't you, Kobayashi Hayato?"

"Although I can declare you the loser in this duel if you lose your will to fight, I've long wanted to repay you for all the humiliation I suffered before, so this duel won't end so easily!"

Kagemaru clenched his right fist and raised it to his head, and the [Phantom Demon Emperor - Rabiel] behind him made the same move in sync.

"The Earthbound God - Veracocha Rascal, with an attack power of only 1 point, will not be a target of the monster's attack. However, it makes no difference whether it exists or not, because this final blow will crush your life and annihilate your soul. The first and last attack of the Phantom Emperor - Rabiel, a direct attack on the opponent's duelist!"

With a sudden forward punch, [Phantom Demon Emperor - Rabiel] behind Kagemaru launched a simultaneous attack. Kagemaru excitedly shouted, "Celestial Crushing Fist!"

"boom!"

The unparalleled ultimate punch landed on the ground, dispersing the dust and smoke raised by the previous attack of [Thunder Emperor - Hamon], but also leaving more spiderweb-like cracks on the ground and raising even more dust.

Kagemaru stood still, not moving an inch even after [Phantom Emperor - Rabiel] withdrew his fist. He stood there for a while before suddenly raising his hand to cover his face.

"Hehe, hehe hahaha, hahahahaha!"

"The one who stands to the end is indeed me, Kagemaru! The final victor is not Kobayashi Hayato, who has already died under the attack of [Phantom Demon Emperor - Labiel] and whose body has probably been turned into mud like it was crushed by a steamroller, but me, Kagemaru!"

“'Darkness,' immortality, and the 'Phantom Demon's' taunt!”

"Insignificant humans, I, Lord Kagemaru, am coming to conquer you!"

After speaking arrogantly, Kagemaru looked in the direction where the smoke and dust were gradually dissipating from Hayato's body and revealed a cold smile: "Let's start by taking that powerful [Earthbound God] from Kobayashi Hayato's dead body. Hopefully, that card hasn't been destroyed like Kobayashi Hayato."