Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Even the [Divine Shield - Power of the Reflector] couldn't extinguish your hope, Hayato. Instead, under pressure, it summoned an even more powerful [Great Director of the Death Prison Village]. As expected of Hayato, you're so strong, too strong!" Yugi said, waving his hand. "In that case, it's time to summon my final trump card!"

"If I control a Spellcaster monster, I can activate this Quick-Play Spell Card, 'Dimensional Spell,' by targeting one of my monsters. My target monster is the Spellcaster monster 'Magic Dark Merchant.' Simultaneously, I chain 'Dimensional Spell' and use its effect to send one of my Continuous Spell Cards, Continuous Trap Cards, to the Graveyard to activate this effect! I send 'Skill Drain' to the Graveyard!"

"C1 [Dimensional Magic] C2 [Magician Dark Merchant]!"

(The sealed Honda Zodia, for sure)

Following the three Trap Cards [Troy Bomb], [Skill Drain], and [Divine Shield - Mirror Power -], Yugi finally revealed the true face of his fourth face-down card. To Hayato's surprise, it wasn't a Trap Card, but a Quick-Play Spell Card. Perhaps Yugi prepared this to prevent Hayato from wiping out the entire field with cards like [Divine Flame Emperor - Uria] or [Junko - Psychic Shocker], which have the effect of clearing out all Trap Cards?

Upon closer examination, Yugi's four face-down cards are truly comprehensive, covering almost every aspect of Hayato's game. They include the counter to NTR with "Troy Bomb," the skill drain against monsters with troublesome effects, the classic and useful non-targeting clear and debuff card "Divine Shield - Mirror Power -," and now the "Dimensional Spell" activated, which combines Special Summoning monsters with non-targeting removal.

The first effect to be dealt with is that of [Magic Merchant]. As Yugi sends [Skill Drain] to the graveyard, [Magic Merchant] collects the magic left behind by [Skill Drain] without wasting a single bit and creates an orb, which flies into Yugi's hand and becomes a card, adding one card to his hand.

Because of the departure of [Skill Drain], the attack power of [Silent Swordsman Zero] on the game field was also restored. After all, his previous level increase was not restored due to the appearance of [Skill Drain], and he was still level 6☆. The 2☆ increase above the original level made his attack power increase by 1000 points to 2000 points.

[Silent Swordsman Zero] [ATK 1000 → 2000]

However, adding a card to the hand is the last value of [Magic Dark Merchant]. As [Silent Swordsman Zero]'s attack power is restored, several chains shoot out from the void and suddenly bind [Magic Dark Merchant], and a coffin that looks exactly like Honda slams down on [Magic Dark Merchant], sealing him inside.

"How could you treat a monster that fought alongside you like this? After it was no longer of any use, you so cruelly sent it to the graveyard?" Hayato said with a serious expression. "To commit such an evil deed so easily for the sake of victory, you are truly an incurable and heartless fellow, Yugi."

“You’re the only one who has no right to say that to me…” Yugi sighed, glanced at the card he had been holding in his hand, and then threw it out. “This is the final battle. Lend me your power, my other self!”

"Come forth, the strongest mage and the most loyal servant, Special Summon—[Dark Magician]!"

The chains surrounding the coffin of [Dimensional Magic] transformed into black magic that surged into the interior. Then, the closed coffin reopened, but what emerged was no longer the [Dark Magic Merchant] who had lost all his usefulness. Instead, it was Yugi—not just Yugi Muto, who was currently dueling with Hayato, but also another "Dark Yugi" whose soul had already returned to the underworld—whose true ace monster had appeared!

[Black Magician] [ATK2500]

It seems that although the game has added the form of "Dark Magician" (which is associated with "Golden Coffin of Light") to the deck, some players still include the original "Dark Magician" in their own decks.

Hayato smiled as he looked at the familiar mage on the field, dressed in a black robe adorned with white patterns and sporting a cold expression.

The effect of the [Dimensional Magic] card activated in the game has not ended. If it only releases [Dark Magician Merchant] to Special Summon a Spellcaster monster from the hand, the effect of [Dimensional Magic] would be far too weak. The key point is not only the appearance of [Dark Magician], but also that the tip of the wand in the hand of the newly appeared [Dark Magician] already has a magic bullet fully charged!

"The follow-up effect of [Dimensional Magic] is that it can destroy one monster on the field. Because it is a selected effect, it is not treated as an effect that destroys cards on the field when the effect is resolved. Therefore, effects such as [Material Dragon] or [Stardust Dragon] cannot be chained together."

【Material Dragon】is Hayato's card, while 【Stardust Dragon】is a card from the future that both Hayato and Yugi know. Therefore, although Kaiba and Jonouchi, who are not on the field, do not have much of an impression of it, it does not affect the communication between Yugi and Hayato.

Pointing to the card "The Great Director of Death Prison" on Hayato's field, Yugi said, "According to the card story you just described, Hayato, the 'Great Director of Death Prison' is the instigator of the 'Death Prison' incident, the so-called villain, right? In that case, we must eliminate him!"

"Crush me with the power of dimensional magic, [Great Director of Death Prison Village]!"

"Gap-Doppler Effect!"

As the Dark Mage swung his wand, a portal to another dimension suddenly opened in front of him, not only swallowing up the unfinished attack of the Great Director of Death Prison Village, but also sending the Great Director of Death Prison Village flying at high speed towards him, teleporting him directly to some place in outer space and making him disappear!

Just as the game was about to reveal a smile, it suddenly saw a pair of pink wings suddenly shoot out from the closing gap, forcefully opening it and preventing it from closing. The [Great Director God of Death Prison Village], which should have been destroyed, actually flew out from there and escaped!

"How is that possible!?"

"Nothing is impossible, anything is possible in my hands!" Hayato's voice attracted Yugi's attention. He looked towards Hayato and suddenly noticed that an open magic card had appeared in Hayato's back row at some point. The card's illustration showed a clown-dressed figure with a pair of dark red wings floating in a sky covered with dark diamond-shaped stigmata.

"When was that card activated?"

"When was it activated? You're wrong, Game. When did you get the illusion that I didn't activate this [Mark of Hell]?"

Hayato spread his arms and laughed arrogantly, "The initial effect of this Quick-Play Spell Card is to add one of my 'Death Prison' monsters from my Graveyard—this 'Death Prison's Tragedy'—to my hand."

Because Hayato's hand size didn't change, and because the wings behind [The Great Director of Death Village] were too big, Yugi completely missed Hayato's sneaky activation of this quick-play spell card after checking what card he drew with [Dark Magic Merchant], and didn't say anything about it!

Kobayashi is cunning, Hayato is sly; Kobayashi Hayato is both cunning and sly!

"The initial effect is to recover cards from the graveyard... I see. So, Hayato, the card you added to your hand from the deck using the effect of 'Tragic Death Village Actor' and then discarded to the graveyard using the effect of 'Shaddoll Beast' was that 'The Tragic Death Village'?" Yugi asked, looking at the three cards in Hayato's hand. "So, like 'Dimensional Magic,' that 'Mark of Hell' also has a follow-up effect that can be activated, and that's how you avoided the destruction of 'Dimensional Magic'?"

“Exactly!” Hayato drew a card from his hand, and then, to Yugi’s surprise, took both of his monster cards from the field into his hand. “The additional effect of [Mark of the Dark] is that I can banish the Fusion Material Monster determined by a Fusion Monster of Level 8 or higher from my hand or field and Fusion Summon that Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck.”

"As a trade-off, monsters Special Summoned by this effect cannot attack directly this turn."

After a pause, Hayato held up the three monster cards that had been chosen as fusion materials. "The monster I want to Special Summon will be a 'Death Prison' monster plus a DARK monster plus a LIGHT monster."

"I banish the monster 'Death Prison' from my hand—'Death Prison's Tragedy,' the DARK monster 'Death Prison's Great Director of Drama,' and the LIGHT monster 'Divine Shadow - Merchant's Staff Spirit,' which is face-down in Defense Position and therefore unaffected by the effect of 'Dark World - Shadow Detour -,' as Fusion Material!"

The [Divine Shadow - Merchant's Staff Spirit] that was previously Special Summoned by the effect of [Shaddoll Wing - Wendy] has finally come in handy. Among the mostly DARK [Shaddoll] monsters, it is the only LIGHT monster, thus fulfilling the requirement of "LIGHT monster" for fusion materials.

Beneath Hayato's feet unfolded a diamond-shaped red-purple stigma, or "Mark of the Crimson," identical to the one in the card illustration. A hazy robe draped Hayato's body, and a pair of enormous wings spread behind him. Countless marks swirled around him in mid-air, forming a merging vortex.

They'd seen plenty of fusion magic card games, but this was the first time they'd seen one like Hayato's "Mark of the Dark," where the duelist himself was directly involved in the fusion process. However, it was ultimately just a fusion effect; Hayato wasn't actually being used as fusion material. Surely no one could actually be fused, right? That was their initial thought at the start of the game, but then they remembered Hayato's "Super Polymerization" card, which could fuse almost anything, and their uncertainty returned.

"The holy mark of evil that pierces the sky, transformed into a brand, causing reality and the abyss to intersect, the gate to the depths of 'Hell' opens wide, revealing its full power!" The three cards in his hand dissipated and were banished under the power of [Hell's Brand], and Hayato shouted, "Kneel at my feet, let my divine power inscribe a new past and future, the pivot of the fallen from the most holy to the most evil, bow down!"

As Hayato forcefully slammed the purple-bordered Fusion Monster card that appeared in his hand onto the Duel Disk, the power of [Mark of Hell] began to contract and gather. A huge device rose behind Hayato, and two purple evil dragons coiled around it opened their fang-filled maws and roared at Yugi. Hayato also shouted out the name of the monster:

Fusion Summon! Level 11☆!

"【Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon】!"

【Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon】【11☆/Light→11☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3200/3200]

In Duel Monsters, a monster's strength is not necessarily linked to its level. The "Knight" deck, which is based on the "Chibi Salamander" card, can contain strange creatures like the Level 10 "Knight," while Level 1 monsters can include powerful ones like "Lyrical Nightingale" and "Narcissus."

However, the 11☆ level is quite special, as almost every single one of them represents an extremely powerful monster. Cards like the Egyptian God Cards and the Egyptian Demon Cards are 10☆, while the 11☆ level represents power that almost surpasses that of "gods," such as [Hellfire Machine Tierra] and [Primal Life Form - Nibiru].

Even the seemingly weakest of them, [Guardian of the Gate], at least represents the Warrior-type card with the highest attack power that can be included in the main deck—until recently, when the game created a buff card for the Labyrinth Brothers called [Dark Guardian - Dark Guardian], which slightly surpassed the previous record by 50 attack power.

The "Death Gokukyou Actor - Proscenium Dragon" that appeared on Hayato's field is a powerful monster with a level of 11!

Chapter 1296 Let me think about how to make yesterday's combo.

【Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon】【11☆/Dark】

[Demon Race/Fusion/Effect]

[3200/3200]

Looking at the [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon] that appeared on Hayato's field, Yugi frowned and said, "Even if you activated [Crown Mark] before [Dimensional Magic] and used [Death Prison Village's Great Director God] as a fusion material to avoid its destruction, Hayato..."

"However, the destructive effect of [Dimensional Magic] is an additional effect, just like [Mark of Hell], and it doesn't target anything upon activation. Therefore, the final result is simply that instead of destroying [The Great Director of the Dead Prison Village], it destroys [The Actor of the Dead Prison Village - Proscenium Stage Dragon]!"

"Oh!"

The [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon], which had only appeared for a few seconds, was destroyed by the belated [Dimensional Magic]. However, after the [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon] shattered like a mirror, Hayato remained calm and even smiled.

With a snap of his fingers, Yugi was astonished to see the destroyed [Death Gore Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon] return to Hayato's field as if time had reversed. Even [Death Gore Village's Great Director God], which had been excluded as a fusion material, appeared on Hayato's field through a diamond-shaped mark gate!

What's going on here?!

"Do you know why I included these monsters in the 'Pure [Tears of the Gods]' deck, Yugi?" Not only did Hayato not answer Yugi's question, but he also asked Yugi in return, "Why would I include [Death Prison Village] and others when I always value the purity of my deck?"

"Honestly, Hayato, your 'Pure [Tears of the Gods]' deck already has cards like [Predator] and [Shaddoll], so adding another [Deathly Prison] doesn't seem like much of a problem..." Yugi remarked, then seriously considered the matter. "If it were an effect that activated upon being sent to the Graveyard, you could have activated it earlier, but it took you until now to Special Summon two [Deathly Prison]s at once..."

"Is it activated when it's banished? No, although it's true that the number of monsters on the field increases after [Brand of Hell] banishes a Fusion Material Monster, that seems to be just the surface." Yugi thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Could the point where it can synergize with [Tears of Elegy] be the 'becoming Fusion Material' aspect?"

"Bingo!" Hayato raised his clenched fist, extended his thumb, and rotated his fist so that his outstretched thumb was pointing upwards. "At the moment when it was excluded as fusion material, both [The Horrible Drama of Death Prison Village] and [The Great Director of Death Prison Village] triggered their second effects when [The Mark of Hell] descended. After the combo involving [Dimensional Magic] ended, it was their turn to have their effects processed!"

"【The Great Director of the Dead Prison】: If this card in my hand or field is sent to the Graveyard or banished as Fusion Material, you can activate this effect and Special Summon this card to my field."

"And the second effect of [The Horrific Drama of the Dead Prison] can also be activated if this card in my hand or field is sent to the Graveyard or banished as Fusion Material. You can target any [Dead Prison] monster other than [The Horrific Drama of the Dead Prison] in my Graveyard or banished monsters, or any Fusion Monster of Level 8 or higher."

"The one I chose is this [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon], which was just destroyed and sent to the cemetery!"

The half-body of the [Great Priest of Teaching]—[Disciple of the God of Teaching - Assassin]—accompanied the former's fall into becoming the [Great Director of the Dead Hell Village], while the latter appeared as a separate individual and was also transformed into the [Dead Hell Village], falling into the [Dead Hell Village's Horrific Drama].

The "Mark of Hell" activated the mark of the "Great Director of the Dead Prison Village," bringing him back to Hayato's field. It also activated the mark of the "Killer Drama of the Dead Prison Village," allowing it to guide the dead back with its own power.

[The Great Director and Dramatist of Death Prison Village] [ATK3000]

【Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon】【ATK3200】

The term "proscenium stage" refers to a performance format where the audience watches the performance from one side of the stage, while the actors perform on a stage that is completely obscured by objects on the other sides, forming a box-like enclosed space. This has led to the concept of the non-existent wall where the audience is located being called the "fourth wall."

The "Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon" exists based on this concept. The cardinal that once taught the Dragon Kingdom, which was entwined with two divine dragons, has now been transformed into an evil central hub covered with spikes. The divine dragons have also fallen from their original platinum and gold colors to black and purple evil dragons.

Its very existence is like evil dragons, unwilling to merely perform on a stage, sticking their heads out of the "fourth wall" and baring their fangs at the "gods" outside the boundary in rebellion.

"Because the first to appear is the [Great Director of the Dead Prison Village], and then the [Dead Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon] who was resurrected by the [Dead Prison Village's Horrible Drama], the first effect of the [Great Director of the Dead Prison Village] will also be activated."

Hayato pointed at the field and said, "Although [Skill Drain] has left the field, I think it's better for your [Silent Swordsman Zero] to remain as weak as it was originally. The first effect of [The Great Director of Death Prison] is that if a Fusion Monster is successfully Special Summoned, it can be activated by targeting one Effect Monster on the field."

"Negate the effect of [Silent Swordsman Zero] until the end of the turn!"

With a wave of his cane, the gate of crimson and purple marks opened, and a bolt of lightning shot out, striking the Silent Swordsman Zero on the game field. Although the Silent Swordsman Zero reacted quickly and jumped away, he did not expect that the lightning would actually bend and travel along the greatsword in his hand towards him.

Although not directly destroyed by the lightning, the power of [Silent Swordsman Zero] was greatly affected by [The Great Director of Death Prison Village]. Not only was he unable to manipulate the flow of magic power in his body as flexibly as before, but he was also unable to grip the heavy sword or move freely due to the numbness in his hands and feet.

Because of the [Skill Drain] effect, the attack power, which had just recovered and increased after the skill was removed, suddenly dropped back down.

[Silent Swordsman Zero] [ATK 2000 → 1000]

"1000 attack power... This is terrible!" Jonouchi said nervously. "The monster with the lowest attack power among Hayato's monsters is 3000 points, and the one with the highest attack power, 'Death Gokukyou: Proscenium Drama God,' has an attack power of 3200 points!"

"Even when he had 1700 points in the game before, he couldn't withstand this attack, let alone now that he only has 700 points left in the game!"

"Hmph, it seems this duel can end now. The outcome is already decided, and there's no need for me to continue paying attention." Haima snorted coldly, reached out and swiped in front of him, actually opening an electronic document to handle the affairs of Haima Group.

Jonouchi could only glimpse that it seemed to be about "space" and "Duel Monsters," and he thought that Kaiba was researching something like the previous advanced Duel Disks and the current virtual game pods, something that ordinary people couldn't afford and that was only good for him to have fun with.

"You're only thinking about yourself," Jonouchi said casually, before turning his attention back to the duel in the arena.

He worries when the game is going against him, but if it were Hayato who was being suppressed by the game, he would cheer for Hayato. This doesn't mean that Jonouchi is a fence-sitter; it's just that he's conflicted. He wants to cheer for both Hayato and the game. Ideally, both of them would win, but the reality is that only one person can achieve final victory.

And now, the one who is about to achieve final victory is—

"The battle continues, and it's time for the game to decide the winner." Hayato pointed to the game field. "This is my third attack. You can't just conjure up some kind of [Super Electromagnetic Turtle] and force me to survive again, can you?"

"Although I really wanted to, I didn't have many opportunities to fill my graveyard in this duel." Even though I did add [Angel's Charity] to this virtual deck in this duel, and even took advantage of the fact that it was a virtual duel to add [Bitter Choice], which was previously only held by Hayato and Isis, I just couldn't draw those graveyard-filling cards.

After all, the other three were all quite aggressive, including Hayato, who wanted to fight everyone; Kaiba, who wanted to deal with himself before killing Hayato; and Jonouchi, who was targeting Kaiba but whose actions affected everyone else. Even Yugi's cards were used up very quickly, so he didn't have the chance to build up a few powerful graveyard cards like "Super Electromagnetic Turtle" for defense.

"I'm relieved to hear that. Now, goodbye to victory, Yugi!" Hayato waved his hand and ordered, "Attack with the rage and resentment from when you were almost annihilated by [Dimensional Magic], [Death Prison Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon], take down [Silent Swordsman - Zero]!"

"Special Beam Cannon!"

Under Hayato's command, the two evil dragons clinging to the cardinal simultaneously stretched out their heads and bit their target to prevent its escape. Then, the central hub of the stage device slowly opened, and a large amount of magic power gathered into a huge sphere, which was launched at point-blank range at the target of the [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon]!

"He's done for?!" Jonouchi exclaimed in surprise, only seeing the ferocious movements of [Death Prison Village Actor - Proscenium Stage Dragon] as it first captured the target and then slashed it, due to the angle.

However, Kaiba, who claimed to be dealing with business and not interested in the duel, was actually focused on the battle. After all, the company affairs he needed to handle only required less than 1% of his energy. Seeing through everything, he sneered, "Although it's not Kuriboh, it's still using a weak, lowly monster? You've escaped with your life, Yugi."

Switching the perspective makes it clear that although the target of the attack was [Silent Swordsman Zero], [Death Prison Actor Proscenium Stage Dragon]'s final attack completely missed the target and instead hit a cotton candy-like monster that had appeared on the field at some unknown time.

Even attacks that would be fatal to ordinary monsters had absolutely no effect on the sticky, soft marshmallow monster!