Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[Six Samurai Gate] [Bushido Indicator 4→0]

[Rokubu-in] [Bushido Indicator 5→1]

As Misawa squandered a large number of Bushido Counters, the attack power of the long-suppressed Iron King Battle - Dwarf Union King rebounded to some extent, but the attack power of all monsters on Misawa's field also increased at the same time!

[Iron King War - Dwarf Union King] (Enhanced Support Mechanics & Heavy Armor) [ATK 1000 → 1400]

[The Six Samurai's Instructor] [ATK 2100→2600]

[True Six Samurai - Shinzan] [ATK 2100→2600]

[Kagero Six Samurai - Riban] [ATK 2400→2900]

【Great General - Purple Flame】【ATK2500→3000】

"Enter my battle phase, and prepare to face defeat, arrogant 'King'!" Misawa snapped his fingers. "The laws of victory have been determined!"

"First, there's the attack from [True Six Samurai - Shining Slash], and then the attack from [Six Samurai Master's Style]!"

"Gale! Murder Array!"

Lowering their stances, almost at the same moment Misawa gave the attack command, the old and young swordsmen rushed out and attacked the tall mechanical giant.

"Get out of my way!" "Those are my lines!"

Arguing, [True Six Samurai - Shinzan], having greater stamina than the elderly [Six Samurai Master], was the first to reach [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Alliance King]. After dodging the giant palm that [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Alliance King] brought down, he slashed out with his sword!

"Clang!"

The sword pierced the gap in the machine, precisely piercing open the internal parts. The [True Six Samurai - Shining Slash] successfully severed the arm that [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Union King] had slammed down, and then began to rush towards its true core along the arm!

He leaped into the air, then used gravity to thrust his sword with all his might as he fell. With a "creak," the sword of [True Six Samurai - Shinzan] successfully pierced the face in the center of the chest of [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Union King], destroying its core in one fell swoop!

The mechanical giant's body froze instantly, seemingly coming to a standstill, and the panel displayed beside it clearly showed that its base score had dropped by 1200 points.

[Iron Lord Battle - Dwarf Union King: 6050→4850LP]

However, before [True Six Samurai - Shinzan] could even smile at his victory, the body of [Iron King War - Dwarf Union King], which should have been destroyed, suddenly started moving again after several parts fell off. Its other, undamaged hand reached down on [True Six Samurai - Shinzan], who was still attached to it!

[Iron Lord War - Dwarf Union King] [ATK 1400]

At the cost of [Enhanced Support Machinery - Heavy Armor], [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Alliance King] was spared from being destroyed in battle and remains on the field!

However, upon seeing the [Iron King War - Dwarf Alliance King] move again, [True Six Samurai - Shinzan] showed no panic and even sneered, "Want to kill me? You're still 20,000 years too late."

"Whatever, but before that, get to the right."

Upon hearing a cold male voice in his ear, he decisively released his grip on the knife, stepped on it, performed a backflip, and intentionally shifted his body slightly to the right.

The next moment, a pair of mechanical prosthetics, each wielding a long sword, pierced through the body of [True Six Samurai - Shinzan], striking precisely the hilt of the sword left on [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Union King]!

"Click—"

Even a body forged from the world's strongest metal will inevitably develop cracks after being struck twice in succession. The face on the chest of the [Iron King War - Dwarf Union King] was split open by a crack that extended from the point where the knife pierced through, and then shattered violently!

[Iron Lord Battle - Dwarf Union King: 4850→3650LP]

"Humans, you actually managed to defeat us?!" Forced to retreat from the monster zone back to where the duelists were supposed to be, his mobile right hand covering the gaping wound in his chest to prevent the interior from being exposed, the voice of [Iron King Kai - Dwarf Alliance King] was filled with extreme rage. "Damage exceeds 60%, repair probability: 80%, immediate action—"

"Before that, [Shadow Six Samurai - Rihan]'s direct attack! Six Samurai Style Shadow Ninjutsu!"

"Clang, clang, clang—Boom!" Three explosives pierced the joints of the arm of the [Iron King War - Dwarf Union King], and then the already lit explosives tied to it exploded instantly, destroying the remaining intact arm of the [Iron King War - Dwarf Union King].

"If you want revenge, you'll have to add me to the list." Stepping into the shadows behind [Iron King War - Dwarf Alliance King], [Shadow Six Samurai - Rihan] revealed the claws on his left arm and swung them sharply. "This is it!"

"Clang!"

With his flight pack removed and his arms destroyed, [Iron King Battle - Dwarf Union King] staggered and fell to the ground, causing [Six Samurai Academy] to tremble as well. Its base score also dropped significantly again after being attacked by [Shadow Six Samurai - Rihan]!

[Iron Lord Battle - Dwarf Union King: 3650→750LP]

"90% damaged, beyond repair, inoperable, decision: surrender 51%..." As [Iron King War - Dwarf Alliance King] was speaking, he saw [General - Purple Flame] carrying a long sword enveloped in demonic flames, stepping onto its fallen body and advancing towards the exposed chest cavity. Flames began to spread along its body, as if welcoming a king to ascend the supreme throne.

"The final blow! [Iron King War - Dwarf Alliance King]!" Misawa took a deep breath and ordered, "[General - Purple Flame], direct attack!"

Holding the long sword upside down, [General Ziyan] looked contemptuously at [Iron Realm King War - Dwarf Alliance King] at his feet, smiled coldly, and released the hilt, letting it fall freely.

"Pfft—"

Inside the Iron Giant's body, the core that supplied the energy needs of his entire body was pierced, and the mechanical giant lost its power in an instant.

With its remaining energy, it turned its shimmering eyes toward Misawa and uttered a difficult sentence: "We will remember your name, the human named Four Arithmetic Operations."

"This...this experience can certainly...can be utilized...for the next time..."

[Iron Lord Battle - Dwarf Union King: 750LP → 0]

With the last glimmer of light fading from its eyes, the mechanical giant [Iron King War - Dwarf Union King] ceased operation completely as Misawa cleared away its last remaining fundamental elements.

"At least remember the correct names at a time like this!"

Amidst Misawa's complaints, a golden treasure chest suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of the "corpse" of the defeated [Iron King War - Dwarf Alliance King].

Chapter 1343 You-Know-Who

Poke—Poke—

Squatting on the ground, Jaden curiously examined the open space in front of him, poking at it one by one with a twig he had picked up at random.

"It's amazing! I poked a hole in the ground." Judai said in surprise as he pulled up the branch and watched the hole he had left in the ground heal quickly. "But it disappeared in the blink of an eye."

"And the trigger mechanism seems to be that as long as the strokes don't break, you can keep drawing without the branch being pulled out and it won't repair itself." Using the soil on the ground as a canvas, Maeda Hayato drew a large picture in one stroke, which looked like the [Death Koala]. "Ah, it broke."

He accidentally used too much force and broke the branch. The drawing Maeda left on the ground also disappeared quickly, just like the hole that Jaden poked, leaving only a flat and empty ground.

"Hmph, that's why I told you before, Maeda, that we needed to find a better tree branch." Jaden proudly raised the long, straight, and perfectly sized "tree branch sword" with symmetrical forks as a guard, and said, "Like this 'Invincible Ultimate Hero Immortal Spiral Flash Rumble Roar Heaven and Earth Musou Crackle Lightning Ball'!"

"The name is too long, Judai. Let's just call it 'Denko Maru' for short."

"Wouldn't it be a waste for me to have such a long name? Even if it's an abbreviation, it should at least be called 'Peerless Blade of Heaven and Earth', right?"

Hearing Judai and Maeda squatting on the ground, seriously discussing the naming of the "tree branch sword" and even its attributes like "sharpness" and "critical hit," Marufuji Sho helplessly covered his face: "Why are we wasting so much time here..."

"Big brother, if we don't leave soon, Manjoume and Asuka will probably reach the finish line soon."

Hearing Marufuji Sho's urging, Judai confidently said, "It's okay, Sho. Look, this mission panel doesn't say there's a time limit. It means that getting to the finals venue is either something that can be done in a few seconds or a long mission. This is my experience after playing so many RPG games."

I've seen many missions with this kind of description in games I've played in the past. Some are short, like "equip your weapon," which can be completed in the blink of an eye. Others are long, like "find Princess Zelda," which I dragged on until I lost interest in the game and went AFK (Away From Keyboard), meaning I stopped playing the game for a long or permanent period of time.

If the location of that enormous tree is near where Jaden and his friends entered the virtual world, then the task they received, "Step to the End of the World," is the kind of task that can be completed quickly, and Jaden wouldn't take too long to do it. However, the tree is so far away that Manjoume and his friends would have to ride the summoned card monsters as mounts to reach it.

This is a long-term task, so we can take our time.

Moreover, Jaden used his extraordinary wisdom to think that perhaps the way Manjoume and the others traveled by riding card monsters was wrong. Although the mission description only said "arrive" at the destination without specifying how to get there, even the mission hint only mentioned the inexplicable "Odin's Horse". Those who didn't know better might think it was implying that others should ride "horses", that is, mounts, to get there as quickly as possible.

However, Jaden's extraordinary wisdom told him that the word "step to" in the mission name "[Step to the End of the World]" might be an important piece of information that cannot be ignored. Perhaps the only correct way to complete the mission is to step on the ground and move towards that huge tree, just like they did.

“Even if you say that, big brother…” Looking at Judai who was still poking at the ground with a stick and then laughing at the disappearing hole, Marufuji Sho complained, “It’s been almost an hour since we set off, but we’ve only walked for less than fifty minutes across the grassland into this forest, and we’ve already wasted more than ten minutes here.”

"Huh? Has it been that long? The sun hasn't moved much at all." Jaden looked up at the sky with some doubt. Because of the clouds, even looking directly at the sun didn't feel dazzling, not to mention that this was a virtual world and he didn't have to worry about his eyesight being damaged. The sun he saw seemed to still be hanging at the same height as when he set off.

"Although the sun in the sky hasn't moved, the task panel provided by this virtual world does display the time. However, it doesn't seem to be synchronized with the real time when we entered. Instead, it starts at 8:00 AM. We set off at about 8:30 AM, and it's already 9:30 AM."

As Maeda spoke to Jaden, he said with some surprise, "We entered this world around 3 p.m., and we've been here for about an hour and a half, but I'm not hungry at all. I'm used to having dinner at 5 p.m.."

"Hayato-sensei once told us that we don't need to know too much about the Kaiba Corporation. It's not so bad that we don't feel hungry or anything, otherwise we'd have to figure out how to get something to eat." Jaden said, picking up a blade of grass from the roadside and putting it in his mouth. "Like, eating wild grass or something? This world probably even replicates the earthy smell of grass—Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

"Wow, it smells exactly like grass in real life."

"More than that, I'm curious why you know the taste of grass, big brother? Are you imitating those characters in anime who put grass in their mouths and lie on the grass to look cool?" Marufuji Sho teased.

However, Judai just looked at the grass and said "Huh?" without answering Marufuji Sho's question.

"Is there something there, Judai?" Maeda asked curiously, walking over to Judai and lowering his head. Even Marufuji Sho, who was focused on getting on his way, was intrigued by the two and came closer.

Parting the grass, the three stared at the mysterious runes etched into the ground and covered by the grass, exclaiming in unison, "This is...!"

"Who wrote such ugly English letters? Some were even written backwards!"

Hearing that none of the Tenth generation members recognized what was written on the ground, one of the "people" finally couldn't sit still any longer and spoke up to correct them: "That's not true! If you don't recognize 'runes,' don't talk nonsense, meow!"

"Hey, Jaden, do you recognize these characters?" "Never heard of them. What are 'runes'?" "Big brother, do you recognize these characters?"

After the three spoke at the same time, they were stunned for a moment. Among them, Jaden was the most confused because he was being looked at by both Marufuji Sho and Maeda Hayato.

"Wasn't that you, brother, who just spoke?"

Upon hearing Marufuji Sho's words, Judai immediately denied it, saying, "How could that be? Who would use such a strange verbal tic as 'meow' when they speak?"

"Actually, it's not that there aren't any..." Maeda suddenly thought of someone and swallowed hard.

Judai and Marufuji Sho had the same thought as Maeda; a squinty-eyed face appeared in their minds: "You mean, Dai—"

Before Marufuji Sho could finish speaking, a figure suddenly stood up, supporting himself on Judai's shoulders, and appeared in front of the three of them. A warm smile played on his lips beneath a pair of squinty eyes: "Bingo! It's me, teacher, meow~"

The next moment, Judai, Maeda, and Sho all instinctively threw a punch and shouted in terror, "A demon!"

The group turned to run, but Xiang shouted in a panic, "B-Big Brother, this is the time for the hero to step in!"

"Weird people and evil organizations are the heroes' real opponents; exorcising ghosts is the domain of Onmyoji!"

"Hey you two, wait a minute! I'm terrified of ghosts!"

After the three had run for nearly 100 meters, Maeda, who had started the slowest and was running at the back, had time to look back in a panic. When he realized that no one was chasing them, he slowed down a little.

Although it was a virtual world with no physical limitations, the panic they had just experienced made them subconsciously forget about that. They felt somewhat mentally exhausted and took a few deep breaths. Maeda stood there looking back and, finding no movement, called out to Judai and Sho: "It seems like... no one is chasing us?"

"Was that just my hallucination? Maeda, you and your older brother must have seen it too, right? You saw that Master Daitokuji has reappeared." Marufuji Sho stopped slowly when he heard Maeda calling him. Seeing that there was no danger behind him, he slowly walked back, asking Maeda and Judai as he went.

"If it's an illusion, it's too real. I can feel that my fist really hit something just now." Judai clenched his fist. Although it was brief, he did feel the presence of a physical object.

"I thought I was imagining things, but Judai, you and Sho also saw it and felt like you hit something, right?" Maeda clenched his fist, as if savoring the feeling of hitting what was probably a "person." "In terms of feel, it was exactly the same as punching Daitokuji-sensei in the face. Could it really be Daitokuji-sensei—"

"Shh—! Don't say the other person's name, Maeda! You might really attract a ghost!" Marufuji Sho said, nervously covering Maeda's mouth to stop him from saying anything more. "In this situation, just use 'You-Know-Who' to refer to him."

"More than that, I'm curious about why you, Maeda, know what it feels like to punch a giant, a 'mysterious man' in the face."

Hearing Judai's words, Maeda scratched his cheek awkwardly: "Last year during the Obon festival, I went to the toilet in the middle of the night and found Daitoku, the 'mysterious man,' hiding in a corner with his face covered in blood, scaring people. Just like now, I subconsciously punched him in the face."

"Then I realized that the 'mysterious man' was taking advantage of all of us students being asleep, using the fish that the principal had caught to slice fish and make seafood hot pot for himself and the Pharaoh."

"It really does sound like something a 'mysterious person' would do." Marufuji Sho said, embarrassed, recalling that he had also witnessed Daitokuji-sensei secretly frying tempura and eating it all by himself in the middle of the night.

“But shouldn’t the ‘mysterious man’ already be…” Thinking of his duel with Daitokuji, the last member of the “Seven Stars,” not long ago, and how Daitokuji turned into ashes in front of him and Asuka after losing the duel, Jaden said somewhat heavily, “Was that really the ‘mysterious man’ just now?”

“I don’t know, but I think we should go back and take a look.” Maeda suggested, mustering his courage. “Aside from the fact that we should have continued anyway, this is a virtual world, so we don’t need to worry about encountering any danger.”