Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

If the attack of [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] goes smoothly, simply destroying all the monsters on his field can deal a full 2200 battle damage to Kaiba, reducing his Life Points to a mere 400.

Seto Kaiba: 2600 LP, 2 cards in hand

[Blue-Eyes White Dragon] [ATK3000]

【White Dragon】【ATK2500】

[Blue-Eyes Tyrannosaurus Rex] [ATK3400]

【GaiKa】

Compared to Jonouchi, who only has one monster in a back-side defense position, and Yugi, who also has three monsters but two of them are in defense positions, Kaiba is undoubtedly the easiest to break through.

"Having stolen the effect of [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon], [Hungry Poison] now has the ability to be unaffected by Trap Card effects. Can your backrow face-down cards protect your monsters, Set?"

Kaiba snorted coldly and said, "After acquiring the power of the Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, it seems you have enough confidence to command that Venomous Beast to provoke me? This is indeed a provocation against my ultimate dragon, the Blue-Eyes, isn't it!"

"The troublesome effect of [Hungry Poison] after it was destroyed is already troublesome enough. In addition, its resistance to trap cards is also improved by stealing the power of [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon]. If it were a duelist of mediocre caliber, he might really not be able to deal with your monster."

"But I'm different from mediocre people, completely different from mediocre people!" With a wave of his hand, a card flew out of Kaiba's deck, transforming into the majestic [Blue-Eyes], roaring and actually stopping [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon], halting its attack and rendering it unable to move!?

"If trap cards are ineffective, then let's use a spell card! Quick-Play Spell Card [Blue-Eyes' Radiance]: Send one [Blue-Eyes] card from my hand or Deck to the Graveyard, then target one monster on your opponent's field!" Kaiba sneered, revealing the last face-down card on his backfield. "I'll send the third [Blue-Eyes White Dragon] from my Deck to the Graveyard, targeting [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]!"

"As long as [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] is still face-up on the field, she cannot attack!"

Behind the seahorse, the phantom of the Blue-Eyed Girl also responded to the seahorse's command, crossing her arms in front of her to make a "Dame" gesture.

The "Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon," which is unaffected by Trap Cards, can attack all monsters once, and drags others down with it when destroyed, is difficult to deal with using ordinary methods. The best approach is to prevent it from attacking at all, leaving it no chance to even self-destruct and cause trouble!

—This is one of the lessons Kaiba has learned from his long-term duels with Hayato: no one knows better than him how to deal with Kobayashi Hayato!

Before the attack of [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] could be launched, it was suppressed by Kaiba's [Blue-Eyes Aura], failing to devour Kaiba's monsters. Although [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] harbored some resentment, it wasn't strong, since Hayato used to frequently use [Super Fusion] to feed Kaiba's [Blue-Eyes] monsters as nourishment—although most [Blue-Eyes] monsters were Light attribute, the ritual monsters of [Blue-Eyes] were all Dark attribute.

However, unless Hayato finds another monster unaffected by spell card effects, or resets the state of [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] by setting it and then flipping it, [Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon] will remain a mere decoration on Hayato's field and will be unable to attack.

Since the "Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon" couldn't attack, both Yugi and Jonouchi breathed a sigh of relief. After all, they didn't really have any cards in their deck that could effectively counter the "Ferocious Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon." If Hayato had attacked them first, he might have been the first to be eliminated.

Losing a duel isn't so scary, it's not some dark game where you risk your soul. The problem is that all four people involved in this duel know each other, so it's embarrassing for whoever gets knocked down first.

But then again—how come from the very beginning of Hayato's duel, it gave the impression that the duel had turned from a four-person brawl into a three-on-one duel between the three of them against Hayato alone?

"Hoo hoo, you actually blocked the attack of [Fierce Hunger Poison]? You really lived up to my expectations, Seth. You did a great job. Even I can't help but feel excited for your struggle."

Coupled with his lines, he seems more like the evil final boss that appears in the last chapter of some game!

While internally complaining, Jonouchi looked at his monster in defense position on the back of the field: "It's really lucky that it didn't choose to attack first and used up the surprise that Kaiba left for that bastard..."

"Then let's choose to attack Jonouchi next."

"Huh!?" Jonouchi was taken aback by Hayato's words. "Hayato, weren't you just planning to take down Kaiba first? Why are you suddenly thinking of targeting us?!"

"Because Jonouchi, you're very strong. What if I accidentally get burned to death by your [Red Eye]?" Hayato said frankly. "I hate [Mischievous Fairy Star] players the most, so let's leave the stage, Jonouchi!"

"Putting aside what 'Mischievous Fairy Star' is, even if you say I'm strong, I won't be happy," Jonouchi complained, but he was ready for battle, looking at the monsters on Hayato's field.

While Hayato's reasoning was just a joke, it did have a grain of reality. After all, Jonouchi had proven the potential of "Red Eyes" through his duels over the years, and his ability to burn through enemy health was undeniable. In the current environment with a base score of 4000, dealing thousands of damage right from the start is really hard to withstand, especially now that after a round of attrition, Yugi, Kaiba, and Hayato's base scores have all been reduced to some extent, while Jonouchi's base score remains at full.

If he were to recklessly fight someone to the death, risking his own life and dragging others down with him, he might be able to forcibly eliminate one or two people. In that case, wouldn't he lose the chance to duel Hayato one-on-one?

Thinking of this, even Yugi and Kaiba couldn't help but focus their attention on Jonouchi's still maxed-out 4000 base score.

Just moments ago, Jonouchi seemed well-prepared, but when he saw that not only Hayato, but also Yugi and Kaiba were looking in his direction after hearing Hayato's words, he suddenly had a bad feeling. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the other two, saying, "W-why are you all looking at me like that all of a sudden?"

"Instead of worrying about the less important thing that you might be targeted by Yugi and Seth, let's think about how to block my attack with that monster and a face-down card, Jonouchi." Hayato waved his hand and said, "Although [Hungry Poison] can't attack, I still have three other monsters on my field."

"【Tears of Elegy Clan - Mermaid】, attacking the monster marked as guarding the inner side of the castle, a lament of two paths leading to the same end!"

"Don't just say something important isn't important!"

Although her own attack power is only 800 points, and she is just a weak (questionable) pitiful but cute mermaid girl, after receiving the blessing of [Divine Shadow - Spirit of the Merchant God's Staff], Mello's attack power is a full 1700 points, which is quite respectable among ordinary low-level dueling monsters. Hayato also confidently let her attack the monster that was destroying the inner side of the castle's defense.

(Humor analysis: Weakness)

As expected, Melo, dragging a hammer taller than herself, smashed it down and successfully destroyed the monster in the inner-side defense position on the field, sending it to the graveyard. The only drawback was that the attack's execution didn't quite match the name of the move Hayato had shouted.

However, even though the last monster on the field was destroyed, Jonouchi's face-down card was still not activated, and it did not seem to be a trap card that could be activated in response to an attack declaration. But the other three did not think that Jonouchi, whose last monster was destroyed, would just leave the field empty and wait for Hayato's follow-up attack. So they just watched him and waited for his next move.

Seeing his monster destroyed, Jonouchi briefly smiled smugly, but after noticing the gazes of the other three, he scratched his head awkwardly: "Wait, why are you all looking at me like you knew I would do something after this? Aren't you surprised?"

Yugi laughed and said, "Not at all, because just like Hayato said, Jonouchi, you're very strong."

"To be honest, if it weren't for Jonouchi, I would have taken down Seth long ago," Hayato retorted. "During the game's clearing phase, it was your face-down card that stopped my [Red Reboot]. I don't think you would use all your trump cards to protect Seth. Anyway, hurry up and serve it; I can't wait to taste it."

"Hmph, do you think I need the protection of that mediocre guy? What nonsense are you spouting, Hayato Kobayashi? But if it's really just a matter of destroying the monster and having no follow-up options, then I can only say that even I misjudged him and chose a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate deck to participate in this duel." Kaiba crossed his arms and said, seemingly arrogant but actually tsundere, "I'm quite looking forward to seeing how you struggle to withstand Hayato Kobayashi's attacks, you mediocre guy."

"Heh, what are you so smug about, you mere seahorse? If Hayato hadn't shifted his attack focus to me, you'd only have Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon left on your field. All your other monsters would have been wiped out, right?"

Jonouchi could only hear Kaiba mocking him and speaking with displeasure, as he picked up the monster card destroyed in battle from the Duel Disk, flipped it over to reveal the baby dragon on the card: "You'll probably be disappointed that I won't just leave the field so easily, Kaiba, but I'd be more than happy to make you unhappy. The monster destroyed by your [Tears of Elegy - Mermaid] in battle, Hayato, is this [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon].

"When it is destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard, the first effect of [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] is activated, Special Summoning one [Red-Eyes] monster of Level 7 or lower from my Deck, and Equipping this [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] in my Graveyard as an Equip Card that increases its ATK by 300!"

"The monster I Special Summoned from my Deck is this one—"

Since the Special Summon of [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] only requires the [Red-Eyes] field and has a level restriction, and its level is 3☆, below 7☆ and has the [Red-Eyes] field, it is naturally within the range of its own effect Special Summon. Therefore, Jonouchi decisively Special Summoned another [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] from his deck - that was indeed his original plan.

[Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] can Special Summon [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon], and then [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] can Special Summon [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] again. This [Red-Eyes Baby Dragon] combo can withstand three attacks. Coincidentally, Kaiba's [Blue-Eyes] is also good at three-hit combos. How could there be such a coincidence in the world?

However, a heavy rain ruined Jonouchi's... cough cough, I digress. Jonouchi didn't need to settle down; it was the existence of [Shadowdome Midrash] that destroyed Jonouchi's combo. The restriction that both sides could only Special Summon once per turn directly killed this combo in Jonouchi's mind, killing it before it even began. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to change his approach.

Without a moment's mourning for the death of the [Red-Eyes Young Dragon], the one who immediately rushed to the battlefield was—

"Burning soul, burn brightly, and answer my call, Wagatsumashi!" As expected, like a hot-blooded idiot, Jonouchi shouted in this virtual world with only the four of them, forcing out the monster's name even with his mouth full of wind from the airship deck, "【Red Eyes—】"

"—Black Dragon!"

Black Flame burst into flames from within the city, transforming into a massive black dragon that soared into the sky, whipping up a fierce wind and even burning away all the clouds surrounding the airship, revealing a sky that was once azure but was now filled with black and red flames.

Similar to the past [Red-Eyes Black Dragon], but not quite, Jonouchi's trump card, [Red-Eyes Sub-Black Dragon], which has never been revealed even in the professional duelist world championships of recent years, has made its grand debut!

【Red-Eyes Dark Dragon】(Red-Eyes Baby Dragon) 【7☆/Dark】

[Dragon/Special Summon/Effect]

【2400/2000→2700/2000】

"【Red-Eyes】..."

"【Sub-Black Dragon】?"

"Can't you name a monster without using other people's monster name formats? You idiot!" Compared to Hayato and Yugi, who had just been calm, Kaiba suddenly got angry. "This is clearly plagiarizing my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"You think plagiarism is plagiarism? I could say that in some other world, the 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' might appear before your 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon'!" Jonouchi said confidently. "Then come and accuse me of plagiarism when I get a monster called 'Red-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'. No, I can say it's an homage, not plagiarism. I'll use that excuse next time there really is a 'Red-Eyes Ultimate Dragon'."

"You want a next time? You inherently evil, greedy, and mediocre talent, I'll—"

"Hey Tingting, you two can start fighting after your duel. I'm still in the middle of a battle here." Hayato quickly pulled Tobirama Senju, who was so engrossed in seeing Jonouchi copy his Blue Eyes using a monster name that she didn't even want to play cards anymore and was planning to turn this world from "Duel-Links" for playing cards into "SAO" for live-action fighting games... I mean Kaiba.

Kaiba, who suffers from severe card addiction and feels uncomfortable if he doesn't play a couple of rounds a day, doesn't even want to play anymore and is planning to take direct action against Jonouchi. It's clear that he really cares about the plagiarism of "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".

However, Jonouchi's [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was indeed a surprising surprise. Hayato recalled its effect, but looked at Jonouchi's back row with a puzzled expression.

If he remembered correctly, the effect of [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was undoubtedly passive compared to the active attack type [Blue-Eyes White Dragon], but the prerequisite was that he needed to have enough Special Summon attempts to activate its effect. Because of the existence of [Shadowdew Midrash], even if [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] was destroyed, he shouldn't be able to perform a second Special Summon.

Instead of choosing other Red-Eyes cards or changing Red-Eyes Black Dragon to Defense Position, it was deliberately placed in Attack Position, as if it was intentionally designed to lure Hayato into attacking and destroying it? So the problem can only lie with that cryptic face-down card in Jonouchi's back row.

In this four-person duel, although Hayato was the last to start and could freely attack the other three who had consumed considerable resources in their previous battles, it was still a luxury to be able to attack all three at the same time. Even with his resources, he couldn't defeat all three of them. Just the fact that he had to withstand the interruption had consumed a considerable amount of his resources. After all, he wasn't using the full-strength Tear of the Goddess, but only the crippled version.

It's only the first round, so there's no need to eliminate anyone. Let's keep Jonouchi, whose resources are almost depleted, on the field. Let him hold off Kaiba while we take the opportunity to defeat the game first.

Hayato's gaze shifted to Yugi, who, noticing Hayato looking at him, wore an expression of unsurprised surprise: "You've withdrawn your hand from Jonouchi's side and are planning to attack us? Even though [Fierce Hungry Poison Fusion Dragon]'s attacks are restricted, Hayato, you're still planning to attack each of the three of us once?"

"After all, having your [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] on the field is quite troublesome. It can use a three-color combo once per turn and also increases attack power."

"I can't deny that either."

Yugi shrugged, making a helpless expression, only to see Hayato point in his direction: "A monster that can't be destroyed by effects, and having Mimi on the field is enough. Go and take down that old guy from the old era over there, [Shadowdew Midrash]!"

"Explanation, Darkness Chasing! Starburst Stream Slash!"

"That doesn't look like a move Xiaomi would use at all!"

Chapter 1274 How did you know...?

Hayato has two monsters on the field that can still attack: [Shadowdome Midrash] and [Shadowmon], both with an attack power of 3100. If he uses them to attack Kaiba, they will not be able to break through the attack power of [Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon], which has an attack power of 3400. At the same time, there is not enough spare power to test Jonouchi's face-down cards.

Since no one can be eliminated, let's take care of the more threatening target first, which is the [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] on the game field.

Even if its second effect cannot be used, the fact that the three-color Conga increases attack power once per turn is a big problem. If we don't take advantage of the fact that its effect has been consumed by [Crimson Light Proclaimer] and has not been able to increase its attack power, it will be much more troublesome once its attack power increases to 4000 points.

The game's face-down cards don't seem to be offensive traps like [Divine Shield - Mirror Power -] or [Magic Cylinder], as they don't trigger in conjunction with Hayato's attack declaration. Although [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] seems much stronger than the seemingly frail Mimi, Duel Monsters ultimately come down to stats. A 100-point higher attack power sealed the fate of this once-dominant "Red Daddy."

"Oh!"

Although it unleashed a magic cannon in resistance, the counterattack of [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] was blocked by Phantom Dragon Prison... cough cough, Phantom Dragon "Prison", while the magic bullet that Xiaomi swung directly destroyed it - as monsters that cannot be destroyed by effects, Xiaomi once again proved that "the most useless resistance is battle destruction resistance, but the most useful way to clear the field is battle destruction".

The game also suffered combat damage, but since [Shadowy Midrash]'s attack power was only 100 points higher than [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight], the combat damage it suffered was only 100 points.

【Muto Game: 1500→1400LP】

It was only 100 points of combat damage, and almost none of the other three present would take such a small amount of damage to heart. However, Yugi smiled and said, "You've successfully damaged me, Hayato. As expected, after confirming that you couldn't defeat Jonouchi and Kaiba in one turn, you set your sights on [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight].

"While the power of [Tears of the Goddess] was beyond my expectations, the fact that [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] would be defeated was to be expected. So, since my monster was destroyed in battle, the Trap Card [Set Up Uppercut] has met its activation conditions!"

(Behemoth being bullied every day lol)

At the location of the [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight] that was destroyed by Hayato, as the face-down card was opened in the back of the game, a magic circle suddenly opened and was laid out on the field, and a figure slowly rose from the magic circle.

“The ‘Planetary Uppercut’ can only be activated when my monster is destroyed in battle. After all, ‘Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider’ has a tough resistance. Whether it’s Hayato or Kaiba, you’ll probably choose to defeat it by battle first, right?” Yugi said, drawing a card directly from his deck and placing it on the Duel Disk. “‘Planetary Uppercut’ can Special Summon a monster with one ATK of 1 or less that is destroyed as ‘Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider’ in Defense Position from my Deck or hand.”

"Attack power below [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider]? That's a bit too wide a range, isn't it?" Jonouchi looked at the monster that appeared in Yugi's only Special Summon, placed face-down in Defense Position on the Duel Disk. "There are tons of monsters with less than 3000 ATK. What's the difference between this and just Special Summoning any monster face-down in Defense Position to the field?"

"There are differences, I suppose?" Yugi chuckled, looking at Hayato. "So, would you like to attack and see what monster is in my backside defense position, Hayato?"

"No thanks, I don't want to eat a [Fiber Pot], [Electronic Pot], or any other kind of pot. Go, [Shaddoll], take down the [Red Gadgets] on the field." Hayato casually ordered [Shaddoll] to tear apart the [Red Gadgets] on the field, which were clearly just for show. He then turned to Kaiba and said, "I still think it's necessary to discuss the control of those [Pots] when the next Forbidden/Limited Card List is drafted."

"Hmph, that kind of boring monster, nobody cares about it except you."

"Who said that? Raphael really likes using [Fiber Jar], doesn't he? Back when people played cards with him, if they sent one of his cards to the graveyard, he would desperately activate 'Bite the Dust'... I'm talking about [Fiber Jar] rollback, although things have gotten much better over the years since I've come to terms with it." Hayato shrugged. "If you ask me, killing all those cards with 'jar' in their names might be unfair, but killing half and leaving half will always result in some escaping."

"Whatever you want, as long as you can convince Keipi, Yugi, and Pegasus, I have no objection." Kaiba wasn't very interested in this, since in the current environment, duelists' use of the [Pot] series cards was limited to drawing cards with [Pot of Greed] and [Pot of Insatiable Desire]. Apart from a few people like Hayato and Raphael, nobody would use other [Pot] cards. Banning or restricting them would have almost no impact on the current environment.

The creation of the Ban/Limited Card List is currently confined to the upper echelons of the two conglomerates, International Illusion and Kaiba Corporation, which practically control the entire fate of Duel Monsters—that is, among the major shareholders of the two conglomerates. Pegasus, Yugi, and Hayato from International Illusion, along with the Kaiba brothers, Kaiba and Keihei, can easily make all the decisions regarding the Ban/Limited Card List through internal discussions among these five individuals.

In that very short time, the [Red Gadget] was destroyed by Hayato's [Shadowdome]. The dark purple beast casually spat out the mechanical parts stuck between its teeth, wiped its mouth with its stone claws, and returned to Hayato's field. Because the [Red Gadget] was in Defense Position, although [Shadowdome] currently had a high ATK of 3100, it was still unable to deal any further damage to Yugi.

Hayato's final attack was still aimed at Yugi, and both Yugi and Kaiba immediately saw through the trick. With [Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Rider] destroyed and one of the two [Tool] monsters used as shields consumed, Yugi's defense on the field was undoubtedly at its limit. His hand was empty and there were no set cards in his back row, as if he could defeat it with just one more effort.