Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"By the way, how many cards did you start with in your deck?"

"Forty cards, and there are thirty-three left. What's wrong?" Lopte asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to see how well you've learned subtraction up to thirty-three." Hayato waved his hand casually and said, drawing a phantom card from the duel disk. "Then my turn begins, draw a card."

"First, activate the Continuous Spell Card, [Deception of the Divine Monument]."

The activation of a card alone wouldn't have caught Lopto's attention, but what surprised him was that when Hayato activated the card, the artwork initially showed only one person standing in front of the [Fountain of the Gods], holding up the "gem fragment" from the fountain from a first-person perspective. However, after a flash of light, his figure gradually appeared in the card!?

"That's... me!?"

"Isn't it obvious? Wearing a mask and a white robe, it's you." Hayato said casually, "You even appeared in the card art for [The Deception of the Divine Monument]. Are you hiding some unspeakable truth?"

“…That doesn’t count as evidence.” Lopte’s heart skipped a beat, but he stubbornly insisted, “My words are not false at all, and I am indeed following my destiny, waiting for the birth of the King of Destiny whom I am worthy to serve and submit to.”

"Is that so? Perhaps, but an incomplete truth is no different from a lie." Hayato continued, saying things that made Lopte feel uneasy, but he didn't delve into the matter and easily skipped over the topic, explaining the card's effect, "【Deception of the Divine Monument】Only one copy of this card can exist on my field. Its second effect is activated only each time either I or my opponent activates a Quick-Play Spell Card: banish one card from the top of your opponent's deck."

Beneath the mask, Lopte raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "So that's why you made me remember the number of cards in my deck? But even if that card's second effect doesn't have the restriction of being usable only once per turn, if each Quick-Play Spell Card activation only banishes one card, how many cards can you banish after two turns? That level of interference is negligible."

"How optimistic! If it were me, I would have skipped the process and started a real duel right away if I saw the person at the opposite table play a [Divine Stele]." Hayato said, playing a card. "Then, this card will be the first one, a quick-play spell card [Divine Stele of the Ear]. You can only activate one card with this name per turn, and you can choose one of two effects to activate. Also, after activating this card, my next battle phase will be skipped."

"Here I choose the first effect: add one [Divine Stele] card other than [Divine Stele Spike] from my deck to my hand, and then banish the top two cards from the opponent's deck."

The term "Sui-sen" literally means "the very tip of something as thin and long as a rice stalk." The card depicts the scene where Hayato uses that "gem fragment" to retrieve his longsword. However, the Sui-sen here clearly doesn't refer to the longsword in Hayato's right hand, but rather to the "fragment" in his left hand, seemingly hinting at some hidden secret.

The longsword Hayato takes out in this card is the only one among the [Divine Tablet] weapons he has that has rune inscriptions on it. Although Hayato has never systematically studied the runes, he can subconsciously recognize that the runes are "Tiwaz", one of the runes in the Tyr group of the three major groups of runes. It represents Tyr, the one-armed war god in Norse mythology who restrained the giant wolf Fenrir at the cost of his arm.

In addition, this rune also signifies warrior and adventure when viewed in its positive form. However, Lopto seems to have no intention of letting Hayato enjoy its positive effect and has decisively changed it to signify a state of stagnation.

"Chain with [Divine Stele's Earl] to open up my face-down card in the back row and counter the trap [Demon Palace's Bribe]!"

Lopte sneered, "Want to search for the key card in your deck? No way. Use this [Bribery of the Demon Palace] to negate it. And because it's a counter trap card, only counter traps with the same spell speed of 3 can chain it to activate."

"This effect can only be activated when the opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card. Under the effect of [Bribery of the Demon Palace], the activation is negated and destroyed, and the opponent draws a card as compensation." After a pause, Lopte added, "Also because the activation is negated, your [Deception of the Divine Monument] cannot activate its effect to banish the card at the top of my deck. My deck still has thirty-three cards remaining!"

"It's a bit frustrating to have my search countered, but I'm not using Sky Knight, I'm using [Divine Monument], so I have plenty of search points." Hayato, who was still holding five cards in his hand, glanced at the card he had drawn and played it. "Take this [Planetary Transformation] for example. Although it's not a Quick-Play Spell Card and can't trigger [Divine Monument Deception], it can still search for the card I want."

"I activate the Spell Card [Planetary Transformation], search my Deck for the Field Spell Card [Divine Monument Fountain], and activate it immediately!"

The ground trembled, and a pool pushed aside the solid rock to reveal the surface. Water flowed from the still-undamaged stone seat, filling the pool. Mimir, his scarlet left eye open, stared ahead and coolly declared, "Waves become my shield, thunder becomes my blade—"

"Ah, it's collapsed!" Noticing the sound behind him, Mimir turned around and saw that the bricks and stones around the dried-up old spring had collapsed due to the tremor. He broke down in a second and cried out sadly.

"At least during the duel, behave yourself and stop making such a fuss." Hayato kicked Mimir's ram horn, watched him press the horn back down after it almost slipped off and fell to the ground, and continued, "Field Spell Card [Divine Monument Fountain], as long as this card is in the Field Zone, I can activate the [Divine Monument] Quick-Play Spell Card directly from my hand during my opponent's turn."

"However, the duel will end before your turn. Are you ready to start practicing subtraction, Lopte? I'll say it one last time, the card reduction needs to be accelerated!"

Hayato's second step after activating the field was to play another Quick-Play Spell Card, "Golden Drops of God's Monument," saying, "This Quick-Play Spell Card, 'Golden Drops of God's Monument,' also allows me to choose one of two effects to activate, and after activation, I skip my next Battle Phase."

(Phonetic transcription: Huang Jin Zhi Shizuku no Shinbei)

The card depicts nothing but a gold bracelet and numerous replicas of gold ornaments that have split off from it; it looks as if it's just raining gold bracelets. However, in the duel, it's raining "rain" that Lopto absolutely dislikes.

"Under the effect of [Golden Drops of the Divine Stele], the opponent draws one card from their deck. However, miracles and spells don't come for free, after which [Golden Drops of the Divine Stele] will also banish the top four cards of the opponent's deck."

Lopto was delighted to draw a card from his deck and see that it was the magic card "Death Meteor," which could deal a full 1000 points of effect damage. However, his expression turned grim when he saw the four banished cards that disappeared from the top of his deck. But Hayato didn't notice because of his mask.

Even so, I still have twenty-eight cards left in my deck—

“Wrong, it should be twenty-seven, no, actually even fewer.” Hayato raised his Duel Disk. There were no physical cards in his hand or on the Duel Disk, which is one of the characteristics of the next-generation Duel Disk. However, if necessary, such as now, Hayato can still briefly turn the cards into illusory images in his hand and show them to Lopto. “If either player activates a Quick-Play Spell Card, this effect will banish the top card of the opponent’s deck by the effect of [Deception of the Divine Monument].

"Then chain this Quick-Play Spell Card, [Divine Monument of Curse Removal], can be activated if the opponent adds a card to their hand outside of the Draw Rank. Randomly discard one card from the opponent's hand, and then banish two cards from the top of the opponent's deck!"

The power to dispel magic coiled around Hayato's hand. Since he didn't need to hold any cards, he could freely assume the same pose as in the card illustration. Hayato looked at Lopto and said, "Now, I'm going to make you 'randomly' discard one card from your hand! That one!"

“…But he only had one card in his hand, right?” Mimir muttered, watching as Hayato’s actions unleashed a spell that affected Lopto’s only remaining card, forcing him to discard it. Seeing the discarded card, Mimir raised an eyebrow. “It was a card that directly dealt effect damage. He was lucky he didn’t get to play it.”

With two copies of [Divine Monument for Curse Removal] and one copy of [Divine Monument for Deception], Lopte's deck has been reduced by three more cards, leaving him with only twenty-five.

However, just as the chain of [Deception of the Divine Stele] and [Divine Stele of Curse Removal] was resolved, Lopte, with a dark expression, watched as the [Deception of the Divine Stele] with his own image printed on it in Hayato's backfield once again met the activation conditions.

"Because of the activation of [Divine Monument of Curse Removal], the effect of [Divine Monument of Deception] is activated again, banishing one card from the top of the opponent's deck." After a pause, Hayato suddenly pointed at Mimir and said, "In addition, once per turn, when I activate a Quick-Play Spell Card with [Divine Monument], I use the second and strongest effect of [Divine Monument Fountain]!"

"You can only activate this effect by targeting up to three [Divine Stele] Quick-Play Spell Cards in my Graveyard. I choose [Divine Stele of the Earl], [Divine Stele of the Golden Drop], and [Divine Stele of the Curse Removal]."

"Return these three cards to the bottom of the deck in my preferred order, and then I draw the number of cards I want to return from the deck!"

Upon hearing this, Mimir readily scooped up water from the Fountain of Wisdom, ready to pour it out to replenish Hayato's strength.

Chapter 1330 (Except for all of them)

Lopte had watched helplessly as Hayato played and depleted his deck, card by card, until only two remained.

With twenty-five cards remaining in his deck, even if one more was banished by [Deception of the Divine Monument], he would still have twenty-four cards left. It seemed impossible for his opponent's remaining two cards to wipe out more than twenty cards. Furthermore, the self-restriction of "skipping the next battle phase" that almost every [Divine Monument] card had made Lopt feel very safe.

However, if Kobayashi Hayato were to retrieve three cards from the graveyard and then replenish his hand with three more, that would be a different story! Therefore, we must stop him!

And coincidentally, the last card Lopp had in the backcourt was exactly the card that could come in handy at this moment!

"Don't even think about it! In this instant, I chain the effect of [Divine Monument Fountain] and activate my backrow face-down card—the trap card [Sacred King's Shatter]!"

A heavy hammer fell from the sky, crashing down on the [Divine Stele Spring] where Mimir was located. Before Mimir could help Hayato retrieve his cards and replenish his hand, it smashed the overflowing spring water into a shower of splashes.

"My pool moved, I'm not playing anymore!" Mimir said with lingering fear, "If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have been smashed along with the [Fountain of the Gods]. It almost killed me too, luckily I reacted quickly."

Hayato also looked regretful: "What a pity."

"Indeed, they just destroyed the pool like that, without even appreciating the fruits of other people's labor."

"No, what I regret is that you weren't killed."

"Eh?"

“When an effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster that adds a card from the Deck to the hand is activated, this Trap Card, ‘Smash of the Holy King,’ can be activated to negate that effect,” Lopte said, picking up the card. “Also, if there is a Trap Card in my Graveyard, it can be destroyed as well.”

"In this way, not only are you prevented from recycling and drawing cards, but you are also deprived of your ability to activate the quick-play spell card [Divine Monument] directly from your hand during my turn."

"Even if you say that, it only destroys [Fountain of the Divine Monument]. The effect of [Deception of the Divine Monument] continues to work, banishing one card from the top of your opponent's deck."

As Hayato finished speaking, another card on top of his deck was banished and disappeared without a trace. Lopte coldly said, "It's just one card. I still have twenty-four cards left in my deck, but you only have two left in your hand."

"If I don't have any cards in my hand, I can just use a card that can replenish my hand, right?" Hayato pointed his hand in front of him and selected a monster card in phantom form. "【Holy Grail Couple Double A】Can only be activated if it exists in my hand. Flip a coin and then determine which side of the duelist it will be Special Summoned based on the result."

The noblewoman representing hearts and the gentleman representing spades each hold a golden cup, poised to clink them together. In front of them, a phantom coin hovers in the air, ready to be tossed. One side of the coin bears the mask of Lopte, while the other side features the image of Hayato.

"Huh? Gambling cards?"

Noticing Mimir's gaze, Hayato shrugged: "Jonnouchi's random drop reward pool is ridiculously large, just like in the game. I accidentally got this card that seems to be a reference to [Holy Grail A]. It's a free card, might as well use it."

"Besides, it's perfectly reasonable for me to include a [Holy Grail] in my pure [Divine Monument] deck. Anyway, let's flip the coin."

"Snap—" With Hayato's snap of his fingers, the coin in front of the [Holy Grail Couple Double A] fell to the ground and began to spin. It quickly stopped, with Hayato's side facing up.

"The coin toss result is heads, therefore [Glass Couple A] will be Special Summoned to my field instead of to my opponent's field if it were tails." Watching [Glass Couple A] clink glasses and then start dancing on his field, Hayato pointed to his deck, "Then, if [Glass Couple A] is successfully Special Summoned by its own effect, I activate its second effect and draw two cards from my deck."

The user of the card 【Ace of Grails】 is Saiou Takuma, but Hayato can also buy this card in the system shop. However, there's no need for Hayato to buy it because 【Ace of Grails】, as a gambling card, allows him to draw two cards if the coin toss results in heads, but if it results in tails, it allows his opponent to draw two cards. If he needs to replenish his hand, isn't 【Pot of Greed】 much better?

As a tribute to the Ace of Grails, the effect of the "Ace of Grails" is essentially a monster version of the Ace of Grails. Although Hayato has now drawn two more cards from his hand, if the coin had landed tails, Lopto would have been the one to draw two cards.

Hayato glanced at the three cards in his hand, which were in phantom form, and with a flourish, he ran his finger across the three cards, saying, "I didn't set my Spell/Trap Card this turn, and I have three cards in my hand right now. I'll banish all cards except this one to activate this card—the Spell Card [Compensation for the Left Arm]!"

"Powerful cards often come with great risks, but at the cost of banishing cards from my hand, I can use the effect of [Compensation for the Left Arm] to add a spell card directly from my deck to my hand!"

Hearing that Hayato had played another search card, Lopto was somewhat annoyed that he had used his previous face-down card a bit too early. Using [Bribery of the Demon Palace] at this moment would be much better than simply negating a [Spirit of the Divine Stele]. But his annoyance couldn't change anything, so he could only stubbornly say, "It's just a card, what can it do?"

“A single card may seem insignificant, but some decks can actually unleash a complete combo with just one card.” Excluding the cards [Heart Change] and [Death Stalker], Hayato took out a card that was still in an illusory state, flipped it over, and said, “What’s more, this card of mine is a noble ‘one for six’.”

"The Spell Card [Heavenly Treasure] is activated! Both players draw cards from their decks until they have six cards in their hand!"

When the strongest card draw card was revealed, Lopte's expression changed instantly. He had no idea that Hayato would actually search for the overpowered card, "Heavenly Treasure." If he had known this would happen, he would have used "Sacred King's Shatter" too early; he should have let Hayato use "Fountain of the Gods" to draw three cards instead.

What suddenly made Lopte panic was not only that Hayato had replenished a large number of cards in his hand, but also that the effect of [Heavenly Treasure Card] could affect both players simultaneously. While Hayato was drawing a card, Lopte was also forced to draw six cards from his deck!

After drawing a full hand of cards, even though this draw allowed Lopte to successfully draw cards that directly cause effect damage, it only calmed him down a little. However, looking at his deck, which only had eighteen cards left, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

No, it's not a big deal. After all that fuss, it only reduced my cards by fifteen. Even if another round comes, my deck can withstand it. But the effect damage that the cards in my hand can deal is already 2000 points.

There's no need to wait for your second turn. By your next turn, the combined 2000 points from the [Wave Cannon] and the 2000+ points from your hand will be enough to wipe out your opponent's life points. Victory is within reach!

But just then, Hayato suddenly spoke up: "Speaking of which, Mimir, is there only one Fountain of Wisdom?"

“Although I told you before that the Well of Wisdom is one of the three great springs, that doesn’t mean all three springs are the Well of Wisdom. Only the one I’m guarding is the Well of Wisdom.” Mimir answered subconsciously, then asked somewhat strangely, “Why are you bringing this up? If you want to know what the other springs are, I’ll tell you slowly when you have time.”

"No, I have no interest in that. What I really mean is that I'm too lazy to keep track of the other springs, so from now on I declare that all three springs shall simply be called the Springs of Wisdom. Arguments are useless, because as the game administrator, my power is unlimited!"

As he spoke, Hayato pushed his hand forward, causing the illusory card he touched to spin and fly out, then expand in front of him and move upwards. As the card passed by, both Mimir and Lopte showed expressions of surprise.

"The second [Spring of the Divine Stele]!?" x2

"Although I only got one [Fountain of the Divine Monument] from the free cards, and I was planning to save up my DP to exchange for other cards, I'm not so desperate that I don't even have the luxury of exchanging for two more [Fountain of the Divine Monument] to make up the three." Hayato looked at the [Fountain of the Divine Monument] in front of him, which seemed to have turned back time and returned to the state before it was destroyed by [Crush of the Holy King], and said, "I activate my second Field Spell Card, [Fountain of the Divine Monument]!"

"Next, activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Monument to the Sleeping God], and select its first effect. Target one face-up monster on the field, making that monster immune to battle or card effects and unable to attack once this turn." Hayato paused, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "And banish the top three cards of your opponent's Deck!"

"My chosen target is naturally [Big Charcoal 18]. After all, I'm a kind-hearted person and can't bear to see monsters get hurt, even if they are the other's monsters. I hate violence the most, so accept my blessing!"

With the activation of the [Monument to the God of Sleeping], which depicts a harp being played, Hayato's next battle phase is skipped again. At the same time, Lopto's [Great Charcoal 18], which was motionless in defense position on the field, tilted its head as the melodious harp music from the card played, and it seemed to have fallen asleep.

However, while [Big Charcoal 18] could sleep, Lopt couldn't, because three more cards were banished from the top of his deck, leaving him with only fifteen cards. Oh no, there's also the effect of [Deception of the Divine Monument], so now he only has fourteen!

For the first time, Lopte felt disgusted by the image of himself depicted in the "Deception of the Divine Stele," wearing a hood and mask.

"Chain with [Deception of the Divine Monument], activate the second effect of [Fountain of the Divine Monument], target the three [Divine Monument] Quick-Play Spell Cards in my Graveyard: [Divine Monument of the Earl of the Divine Monument], [Divine Monument of the Golden Droplet], and [Divine Monument of the Curse Removal], return them to the bottom of my Deck in my preferred order, and then I draw three cards from my hand equal to the number of cards returned to the Deck."

Instead of decreasing, Hayato's hand size increased after being played, freeing him from having a full seven cards in his hand. He then tapped on another card: "Next is the Spell Card [Purple Flame Interloper]. Target one face-up monster on my field and transfer control of it to my opponent until the End Phase."

"I choose [Holy Grail Couple Double A]".

The [Holy Grail Couple Double A] in defense position danced and moved to Lopto's field. Hayato's move left Lopto somewhat confused. If you're going to destroy your deck, why did you end up throwing your own monster here?

But he soon found out why Hayato did it.

"For the Quick-Play Spell Card [Ice Curse Monument], I still choose to use its first effect: You can target one Effect Monster on your opponent's field to activate this effect, negate the effect of that monster until the end of the turn, and then banish the top three cards from your opponent's Deck."

After Hayato activated the card, he pointed at the [Holy Grail Couple A] card that had just moved to Lopto's field, saying, "Now that you've already given me your card-drawing effect, [Holy Grail Couple A] is worthless... Therefore, it's a limited edition!"

The astonished Spade and Hearts couple were struck by an arrow fired from the [Ice Curse Monument] and turned into an exquisite ice sculpture. Meanwhile, Lopte's deck was banished once again. After the effect of [Monument of Deception] wore off, only ten cards remained in his deck!

Swallowing nervously, Lopte forced a calm demeanor: "You sent your monster here specifically to banish cards from my deck again? But it's useless. You only have five cards left in your hand. How many of your unactivated [Divine Monument] cards do you have?"

Lopte remembered very clearly what Hayato himself said about the common effects, or rather side effects, of the [Divine Monument] Quick-Play Spell Cards. Besides skipping his next battle phase, the most important thing was that "only one card with this name can be activated per turn."

Although he didn't know exactly what kind of power the [Divine Stele] possessed, it should be close enough. You can't have a deck that has no monsters and just a bunch of spell cards, can you?

Hayato glanced at the cards in front of him and nodded, saying, "Indeed, perhaps the bond hasn't been developed yet. I only have one [Divine Stele] card left."

"Quick-Play Spell Card [Monument of the God of Rage], its first effect is to banish cards from the top of the opponent's deck up to the number of cards on the opponent's field."