Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Muttering to himself, Kagemaru was about to take a step when he suddenly realized that the "phantom demons" beside him hadn't disappeared with the "end of the duel." At the same time, from within the smoke and dust, he heard Hayato's voice, which Kagemaru thought was dead!?

"Oh dear, you're just making such a fuss about me, concluding I'm dead? That's a bit too arrogant." Hayato, completely unharmed—or rather, unscathed—waved his left hand, the Duel Disk whipping up a gust of wind that cleared away the surrounding dust. He looked at Kagemaru with disdain and said, "You really think those 'Three Phantom Demons' can kill someone? That you can wipe out my Life Points with battle damage from this Trap Card?"

Of the three cards in Hayato's back row, one was face up, seemingly still active. Kagemaru was already surprised enough to see that Hayato hadn't died, but he was even more astonished when he saw that the card that protected Hayato from the "Three Phantoms" combo was a trap card: "Impossible! The 'Three Phantoms' shouldn't be affected by trap card effects!"

"Even if the Trap Card is ineffective against your monsters, I didn't say this card targets your monsters, did I? I already showed you my face-down cards in the back row when I activated [False Trap], and you didn't even remember what cards your opponent had. You need to reflect on that, Kagemaru." Hayato picked up a card from the back row, tapped the side of it, and showed it to Kagemaru. "The Normal Trap Card [Rainbow Life] can be activated by discarding one card from your hand. Until the End Phase of this turn, it restores the amount of Life Points I take as compensation for damage I take."

"I had already activated this card when I had [Thunder King Hamon]. Your [Thunder King Hamon] even paused for a moment because of the activation of the trap card, giving you a chance to activate the effect of [Thunder of Pain]. But you idiot, all you could see was attack, attack, and attack. You didn't pay any attention to the cards in my back row at all."

Hayato said dismissively, "I gave you a chance, but you were useless."

【小林隼人：2250→4350→8450LP，手牌4→3】

Seeing that Hayato's base score had not decreased at all due to his fierce attack this round, but instead had surged, not only making up for the previous [Transaction Rollback] cost, but also increasing it to twice the initial 4000 base score, or even more than five times Kagemaru's current base score, Kagemaru's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You, you despicable and shameless bastard, you activated a trap card without even saying a word!"

Instead of acknowledging his own mistake, Kagemaru blamed everything on Hayato, feeling both angry and annoyed, wishing he could exchange life points with Hayato. Hayato still had a full 8350 life points, enough that even the "Three Phantoms" with 4000 attack power would need all three to attack in one round to deplete his life points, while Kagemaru only had 1501 life points left. Furthermore, in the next turn, Hayato's "Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska" could use its effect to reduce his life points to 1 again, and with any effect damage card, he could easily wipe out his life points.

Even the power of [Thunder King - Hamon] and others cannot resist its power to modify life points. Moreover, I do not yet have the ability to remove them from the field to trigger their effects. All I have is a Continuous Trap Card that is completely useless in my hand.

No, I don't want to lose! I've already made up my mind to give up even my soul, so why can't I defeat Kobayashi Hayato?! Kagemaru looked at the four monster cards on his Duel Disk with a sense of resentment, his gaze lingering on [Chaos Phantom - Amitel], when he suddenly noticed an effect of it that he hadn't noticed before.

So that's how it is. I haven't reached the end of my road yet!

Kagemaru looked at Hayato and sneered, "What's the use of a high base score? Even if you summon some monster next turn, do you think you can take me down in one go? If you can't, then my 'Three Phantoms' can easily break through your makeshift defenses, and then [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] will deal up to 10000 points of damage to torture you to death."

"But before that, let's use the other effect of [Chaos Illusion - Amitel] to collect some interest and deal with the troublesome monsters on your field first!"

Kagemaru pointed at Hayato and said, "My Battle Phase ends, then during Main Phase 2, I set a card face-down and activate the second effect of my [Chaos Phantom - Amitel], transferring control of it to my opponent, and ending my turn!"

With Kagemaru's command, the massive body of [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] vanished in an instant, only to reappear on Hayato's field. As Kagemaru announced the end of the turn, [Chaos Phantom - Amitel], now on Hayato's side, suddenly began spewing large amounts of black mist from its mouth!?

"During my main phase, I can transfer control of [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] to my opponent, and at the end phase of this turn, banish all monsters on the field of the [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] controller except for [Chaos Phantom - Amitel], and then [Chaos Phantom - Amitel] will return to its original owner's field."

Kagemaru said smugly, "Now your [Earthbound God] will leave the field and never come back, so I can rest easy! Face the most terrifying power of [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel], Kobayashi Hayato!"

"A phantom of nothingness, Luo Shengmeng!"

Chapter 1186 The Creator God - Tiera, descends in grand style!

After exhaling a large amount of black mist, the mist, filled with the power of [Chaos Illusion Demon - Amitair], interfered with the connection between [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] and [Paradise Lost]. The light of its tail feathers flickered a few times before being irrevocably extinguished.

"Waaaaah..." After a few mournful cries, the [Earthbound God] lost its power after losing its connection with the earth. The [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] was unwillingly banished from Hayato's field, while the [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel] returned to Kagemaru's field after wandering around Hayato's field.

[Kagemaru: 1501LP, 0 cards in hand]

[Chaos Phantom-Amitair][ATK0]

【Divine Flame Emperor - Uria】【ATK4000】

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【ATK4000】

[Fantasy Emperor-Rabiel][ATK4000]

[Seven Essences Unlocked] [Thunderbolt of Lost Pleasure] [The Awakened Three Phantom Demons] [Gaikka (High-pitched Flame Wave)]

Location: Paradise Lost

Although the base score is low and there are no hand cards, it is enough in Kagemaru's opinion. Without the threat of [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska], his own field setup is more than enough to block Kobayashi Hayato for one turn.

We can disregard the "Seven Spirits Unlocking Gate" for now. "Thunderbolt of Lost Paradise" allows Kagemaru to negate the effect of any one of Hayato's Spell/Trap Cards once. "Awakened Three Phantoms" can restrict the negation of monster effects activated by Hayato's field. Each time Hayato Normal or Special Summons a monster, he can also absorb the Life Points equal to its ATK. Furthermore, because the "Three Phantoms" are all gathered together, there is a third power: "banning monsters sent to the opponent's Graveyard".

The cards [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] and [Silver Castle of the Labyrinth] are currently banished from Hayato's graveyard. This limits Hayato's ability to fill his graveyard with a large number of cards and then use those cards to create complicated combos.

As for [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]'s [High-pitched Flame Wave]... well, [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] is still the same [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria]. The existence of [High-pitched Flame Wave] is completely useless, and Kagemaru is too lazy to even activate it.

In short, [Paradise Lost] has granted its "Phantoms" even greater resistance. Combined with the powerful strength of the "Phantoms" and the support of many powerful cards in the back row, how can Kobayashi Hayato possibly fight back? This game is already won; there's no way he can lose!

Full of confidence, Kagemaru watched Hayato draw cards from his deck with an unusually relaxed attitude, and even looked forward to seeing what the outcome of Hayato's futile struggle would be.

"My turn, draw a card."

With his hand now holding four cards, Hayato raised an eyebrow at the card he'd drawn and looked at Kagemaru, saying, "Looks like my luck's pretty good. I drew a decent card right off the bat. A Normal Spell Card, Pot of Greed..."

"Hmph! You want to draw a card?" Upon hearing "Pot of Greed," Kagemaru immediately spoke without hesitation. "Although I undoubtedly have an absolute chance of winning, I won't leave you even the slightest chance. The effect of 'Thunderbolt of Pain'!"

"Neglect the effect of one of your opponent's Spell/Trap Cards, then change my [Thunder King Hamon] to Defense Position!"

Having been freed not long ago, [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] was frozen for the third time in this duel, negating and freezing the effect of the [Pot of Greed] that Hayato had opened in the back row. At the same time, because it was in defense position, its effect was applied again, making it the only target Hayato could attack.

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【ATK4000→DEF4000】

It has to be said that compared to the [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] who has great potential to be a traitor, [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] in Kagemaru's hands has had a much tougher time. If we were to name an MVP, it would definitely be him.

Although Hayato failed to draw cards from his deck using the effect of "Pot of Greed," he at least managed to bait out the once-per-turn Spell/Trap counter of "Thunder of Pain." Hayato wasn't disappointed. After glancing at a card in his hand, he said, "Now that you've used up your only chance to use 'Thunder of Pain,' I can start playing without restraint."

"First, the spell card 'Pot of Greed' returns five monster cards from my graveyard—'Silver Castle Statue,' 'Silver Castle Envoy - Ariana,' 'Silver Castle Fire Furnace,' 'Silver Castle Dragon Lantern,' and 'Silver Castle Mad Clock'—to the deck. Shuffle the deck and draw two cards."

"Next is the Spell Card [Magic Fitting Room]. I pay 800 Life Points to activate it. I flip over the top four cards of my Deck, then Special Summon the Normal Monsters of Level 3 or lower to my field, and return the rest of the cards to my Deck."

[Hayato: 8350→7550LP, 3 card in hand]

"Level 3 or lower, and a Normal Monster? Do you really think those kinds of monsters can do anything to my 'Phantom Demons,' Kobayashi Hayato? Can an ant move an elephant?" Kagemaru glanced disdainfully at Hayato, who was drawing four cards from the top of his deck. "Summon whatever you want, but the effect of 'Phantom Demon King - Rabiel' is that at the same time your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster, you can also Special Summon the same number of 'Phantom Demon Tokens' on my field. At the same time, each of your monsters will recover my Life Points under the power of 'Awakened Three Phantom Demons'!"

With that, Kagemaru opened his arms, waiting for Hayato to Special Summon the monster and restore his low Element Points. But vaguely, he felt like he'd seen this scene before.

However, half a day passed, and Kagemaru still didn't feel his Life Points recover. When he opened his eyes, he saw Hayato placing cards on his Duel Disk, and he also had a [Phantom Token] Special Summoned and placed in the last empty Monster Zone under the effect of [Phantom King - Rabiel]. But his Life Points didn't seem to have changed at all?

[Phantom Derivative] [1☆/Dark]

[Demon Race/Derivatives]

[1000/1000]

Instead of speaking first, he glanced down at his base score. This time, his base score hadn't increased at all, even less than when [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] appeared. This left Kagemaru somewhat bewildered. He looked at Hayato and asked, "What's going on? Why hasn't my base score increased at all again?"

"Huh? Isn't that obvious?" Hayato gave Eyeshadow Maru a strange look, pointing to the monster cards he had on the field. "Before, [Earthbound God - Veracocha Rasca] was lucky to give you 1 Life Point. You're dreaming if you think you can get Life Points back from these, because they are..."

"Deal with cards that can be used to exploit other people's cards!"

"The best way is!"

"Useless trash that can't be utilized!"

Three monsters of different colors stood in Hayato's arena, striking poses and shouting in unison, "As long as we're useless, no one can use us!" x3

Of the four cards Hayato flipped over, only three were Normal Monsters of Level 3 or lower. He put the remaining card back into his deck, shuffled it, and then Special Summoned those three monsters. And those were none other than the three brothers, [Disruptor Yellow]!

Thanks to Hayato's protection, they were not drained of power by the "Three Phantoms" and remained very active. As a result, the moment after they made their appearance and made their presence known, they were punished by Hayato and kicked back onto their respective cards, lying on their backsides with their butts sticking out.

"What's there to be proud of, you idiot!"

[Disruption - Yellow] [0/1000]

[Disruption - Green] [0/1000]

[Disruption - Black] [0/1000]

Since the attack power of [Disruption] is 0, it is natural that Kagemaru cannot recover his life points from the effect of [Awakened Three Phantoms]. However, looking at the monsters that Hayato Special Summoned, Kagemaru felt insulted.

"So that's how you're confident, Hayato Kobayashi? You're confident enough to rebel against me, a god? Is it these shitty monsters?" Kagemaru thought Hayato would at least show some seriousness, but his expectations were met only with disgusting monsters like the [Disruptors]. His heart was filled with anger at being looked down upon.

When he was being suppressed, Hayato looked down on him. Even after he finally summoned a bunch of powerful monsters to suppress Hayato Kobayashi, he was still looked down on. So, wasn't he just summoning monsters for nothing?

"Don't rush, Kagemaru. I'm just setting up a stage for the 'god' to descend. After careful consideration, I've decided that it's more appropriate for the 'god' to personally punish you, this madman who calls himself a 'god'."

Hayato placed his remaining three cards face down on the back field and pressed the button to activate the face-down card, saying, "But before that, let me use your card. Trap Card [Grave Robber] activated!"

As Hayato activated the card, Kagemaru saw his graveyard suddenly light up, and magic cards appeared in front of Hayato in the form of phantoms, for Hayato to choose from.

"The effect of 'Grave Robber' is to select one Spell Card from your opponent's Graveyard and add it to your hand until the end of the turn. However, powerful cards often come with great risks. The cost of obtaining the card with 'Grave Robber' is that if I use that Spell Card, I will suffer up to 2000 damage." Hayato paused, glancing at his remaining 7550 Life Points. "Although, it doesn't seem like such a high cost?"

"I'm thinking of choosing cards like [Steal], since your 'Phantom Demon' is supposed to have resistance, but it can't resist [Steal] as an equipment magic card at all. Using [Steal] to overpower your [Chaos Phantom Demon - Amitel] and then unleashing a 10000-point attack on you right in front of you, the victim, is just too exciting to think about... cough cough, I'm actually a pure love person."

Pointing his finger forward, Hayato selected a Normal Spell Card: "Anyway, in order to prepare for the 'God's Descent' which is also the first time I've used it, I'll choose this [Heavenly Treasure Card]."

"Then I activated the spell card 'Heavenly Treasure Card,' and both players drew cards from their decks until they had six cards in their hands. I had zero cards in my hand, so I could draw six cards."

Hayato obtained the "Heavenly Treasure" card from Kagemaru's graveyard and activated it immediately. Having used the effect of "Thunder Emperor - Hamon" earlier to counter "Pot of Greed," Kagemaru could only tearfully draw the same six cards, watching Hayato's Life Points drop by 2000.

[Hayato: 7550→5550LP, hand 0→6]

The hastily crafted "Heavenly Treasure Card" shattered and disappeared, causing Hayato's base score to drop. Looking at one of the six cards he had drawn, even Hayato couldn't help but feel a little excited about the appearance of this card.

But before that, let's get rid of the obstruction first.

By pressing the button to activate the face-down card, Hayato flips over a previously face-down card on his back field, revealing a green border: "Normal Spell Card [Hurricane] activated! All Spell & Trap Cards on both players' fields are returned to their respective hands!"

The reason this card wasn't activated before was because Hayato still needed to use "Grave Robber" to retrieve cards from Kagemaru's graveyard. If he activated it, the "Grave Robber" card that returned to his hand would be unusable. However, now that he has already used "Heavenly Treasure Card" to draw cards, it's time to clear those annoying cards from Kagemaru's back row.

The raging hurricane swept through, sending all of Hayato and Kagemaru's cards back into their respective hands. Hayato's hand instantly grew to eight cards, while Kagemaru had a full eleven cards in his hand.

"【Paradise Lost】, 【Thunderbolt of Paradise Lost】, 【Awakened Three Phantoms】, you've bounced all these cards back into my hand... But it's meaningless!" Kagemaru glanced at the cards in his hand. As long as he didn't touch the "Phantoms" on his field, he wasn't afraid at all. "They've only lost a little bit of resistance, but the power of my 'Phantoms' hasn't diminished at all."

"I am still 'God'! A 'God' with the power to destroy everything!"

Hearing Kagemaru's words, Hayato shook his head, took out a card from his hand, and held it up in front of him to examine it: "No, you are just a fool who controls the inferior 'Three Phantom Demons' that are far inferior to the real 'God' and is also controlled by 'Darkness'. What kind of 'God' are you?"

Have you ever seen a god who truly possesses the power to destroy everything?

Suddenly, a whirlwind swept across Hayato's field. One by one, the other seven cards in his hand, except for the one he had drawn alone, turned to ashes and vanished. At the same time, the three [Disruptors] on the field also suddenly turned into particles and disappeared, without even having time to say their last words.

Beneath Hayato's feet, emerald flames spread across the land where the "Paradise Lost" had been removed but had not yet returned to its previous state, enveloping Kagemaru and his monsters.

A streak of red flashed across the dark purple sky, as if flames were burning in the heavens. Kagemaru thought he was hallucinating, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the sky again.

No special summoning phrase was needed, nor was there any need for a grand display. As Hayato placed the card on his duel disk, a gigantic figure appeared behind him without him even noticing, as if that figure had existed since the beginning of time and the birth of planets.

"Stand firmly on the ground, look up at the sky, and then bow down in worship, Kagemaru. To be able to see the true face of the god is the greatest glory of your life." Hayato opened his palms towards the sky and shouted, "If I return all ten types of cards from my hand and field to my deck and Fusion Deck, I will Special Summon this ultimate 'God'."

"[Disruption - Yellow], [Disruption - Black], [Disruption - Green], [Spiritual Exophysis], [Mind Change], [Triple Victory], [Forced Transfer], [Brainwashing], [Enemy Manipulator], [Mental Manipulation], I return these ten types of cards from my hand and field to my deck—"

"From the eternal creation time, the God of creation and destruction at the very root of the Kabbalah Tree of Life, now submit to my incarnation and unleash the despairing punishment upon those without light!"

"【Creator Goddess - Tiera】!"

【Creator Goddess - Tiera】【11☆/Light】

[Demon/Special Summon/Effect]

[3400/3600]

From the moment the [Creator God - Tiera] descended, Kagemaru noticed that everything around him, whether it was [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] or [Chaos Illusion Demon - Amitel], was in a similar state to [Disruption - Yellow] before, helplessly dissipating into particles. Kagemaru didn't understand what was happening; he couldn't even speak under the pressure released by the [Creator God - Tiera], and his breath almost stopped.

“A true ‘god’ can make people lose their will to fight just by appearing in person. This is something that the ‘illusionary demon’ you created can’t compare to. And the ‘Creator God-Tiera’ is the ultimate god who represents the beginning and the end, creation and destruction.”