Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

At the top of the floating castle tower, the golden helmet slowly turned towards Hayato and spoke: "Insignificant human, who are you to dare stand in my way?"

"Although I'd love to continue introducing myself as a 'passing duelist,' this time I'm really not just passing by. Let me give myself a proper introduction." Hayato returned Gaia to the deck and stood alone on the back of [Spellrider Dragon - Cursed Dragon], arms crossed in front of him.

"In 1999, he won the championship in Duel Kingdom for the first time, sharing the title with Yugi Muto; in 2000, he defeated Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba, and Katsuya Jonouchi to become the number one in Duel City. For the next six years, he defeated all the duelists who were his enemies and reigned as the King of Duel."

"Revered as the world's most loving duelist with 'divine talent,' nicknamed 'God of Pure Love.'"

"Pure Love God of War? Nonsense, I can't understand it." [Void Realm King War - Utgard] was full of contempt for Hayato. "Insignificant humans dare to call themselves gods? How shameless!"

"Furthermore, you dared to damage my castle, making your crime even more serious. As the ruler of this realm, I will unleash divine punishment upon you!"

As they spoke, a greater number of floating towers, more than when they attacked Mimir, broke away from the floating castle and flew out on their own, tilting like javelins aimed at Hayato riding on the dragon, and then suddenly attacked in the next moment!

Hayato casually took out a card, snapped his fingers, and said, "Click—"

The Philosopher's Stone glowed red in the sky. Gaia's unretracted javelin was reconstituted into a pool of liquid metal by Aldrich's alchemy. The liquid metal then spread out on its own, forming a barrier in front of Hayato. The seemingly soft liquid metal blocked all the floating tower spears that possessed both weight and speed.

“Fervor, mei sanguis (Latin: Boil, my blood), how about this name for that move?” Hayato even had the leisure to name his move behind the barrier.

"My gut feeling tells me that's not the name you came up with, but something you copied from somewhere no one else knows about," Mimir complained, glancing at Hayato, who was keeping his distance from the floating city of [Void Realm King War - Utgard] and hadn't been left behind. He shouted again, "Closer, brother, I can't reach you or jump over you at this distance!"

"If all else fails, just jump down and shout 'Catch me, Banagher!' and maybe a unicorn will appear out of nowhere to catch you."

"Whose unicorn can fly?!" Mimir, unaware that Hayato was actually referring to the Unicorn Gundam, retorted, though he genuinely considered jumping. He hadn't jumped before because he was afraid Hayato wouldn't know and no one would catch him, but now that Hayato was right behind him, he figured if he jumped, Hayato could probably escape the attack of [Virtual World King War - Utgard] and catch him without any problem.

But before he could make a move, the bricks of the city wall on which Mimir stood suddenly seemed to melt, causing his leg to sink into them. Before he could pull his foot out, it instantly solidified again, as if someone had cast a classic combination spell of "turning fossils into mud" and "turning mud into stone".

Not only that, dozens of metal rods suddenly rose from the ground around him, intersecting and merging together above his head, instantly forming a cage to restrain him!

The relentless attacks suddenly ceased, and Hayato heard the voice of [Utgard, the King of the Void]: "No wonder you have such arrogance; you do possess some superhuman strength. However, you are still utterly vulnerable in the eyes of a noble ruler like myself, and you wouldn't want the life of your companion—the wise giant Mimir, who also committed the crime of disrespect—to be threatened, would you?"

"My rule over the world relies not only on strength, but also on extraordinary wisdom. So, insignificant humans, let us use the ritual of battle to decide the fate of you and the prisoner in my hands!"

The damaged parts of the floating tower that shattered upon colliding with the metal barrier were not wasted by [Void King War - Utgard]. Drawn by magic, they drifted towards the front of the floating castle, transforming into a huge open space with about a dozen squares drawn on it.

Although the size and proportions are not quite what we usually think of, the arrangement of those grids clearly resembles the arena used by Duel Monsters!

Even though [Void King War - Utgard] didn't bother to shout "Duel" at all, his base score was already displayed next to him.

[Voidlord Warrior - Utgard: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

"If you win, though that's impossible, I, as the [King's War], will release Mimir, whom I have imprisoned, and forgive you all. However, the price for losing the duel will be that you and your companions serve me as my servants for a thousand years to atone for your disrespect!"

Hayato raised an eyebrow and also raised his left hand, revealing the Duel Disk: "The crime of disrespect, you've got it backwards, haven't you? You could have avoided pain by fighting me directly, but you chose to play cards with me instead? Well, there's nothing I can do about that."

"Okay~ So today we'll play the [Divine Stele]... Oh, I forgot Mimir, you're locked up. Without the [Divine Stele Fountain], the [Divine Stele] doesn't seem that great. I'll choose another one."

Hayato, who originally planned to use [Divine Monument], saw that Mimir was not in his [Divine Monument Fountain], so he made up an excuse to take back the deck that he hadn't pushed into the Duel Disk and replaced it with another deck that he had temporarily put together: "Haven't used you in a long time, have you? Well then, let's show off our new cards after all this time, Duel!"

[Kobayashi Hayato: 4000LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I get to go first, draw a card!"

Although Hayato had already used the features of the next-generation Duel Disk to project five digital cards in front of him the moment he shouted "Duel," [Utgard the King of the Void] was even faster.

The castle's closed gates were raised, revealing five cards embedded in the inner walls. These appeared to be the five initial cards from the [Void King War - Utgard] deck. A snake-like iron fence, now activated, held a card and added it to the hand.

"The Spell Card, [Angel's Charity], is activated. I draw three cards from my deck and then discard two cards from my hand." After a hand swap, [Utgard the Void King] played a card and said, "Next is the Continuous Spell Card, [Mana Conservation], which makes the Life Points I paid to activate the Spell Card unnecessary."

"Starting right off the bat with building graves and activating [Magic Conservation]?" Hayato raised an eyebrow. "You're not planning to activate something like [Countdown to the End], are you?"

The Spell Card "Countdown to the End" is a Spell Card that, like "Dimensional Fusion," requires a whopping 2000 Life Points to activate. This huge cost naturally comes with a powerful effect: a special rule victory. After 20 turns from the start of the activation turn, the user of "Countdown to the End" will directly win the duel. It is especially suitable for those time-wasting decks.

However, the next moment, Hayato also realized what [Utgard the King of the Void] was trying to do, because he played two spell cards that required paying Life Points to activate.

"Equip Spell Card [Premature Burial], this card requires paying 800 Life Points to activate by targeting one monster in my Graveyard. However, because of [Mana Saving], I don't need to pay Life Points, so I can activate [Premature Burial] directly. I will activate both of my cards in my hand and target two monsters in my Graveyard!"

The opponent started with "Angel's Charity," followed by "Premature Burial," and two of them at once. This forbidden card combo even made Hayato raise an eyebrow and become a little serious, wanting to see what tricks his opponent had up his sleeve.

After placing the cards on the back row, [Utgard the Void King] retrieved the two cards that had been sent to the graveyard earlier. Then, two [Pot of Greed] appeared in the open space in front of his unfolded gate.

No, upon closer inspection, they are two fairies with the same faces as the Pot of Greed?

"I Special Summon the monster I selected in Attack Position to my field and equip it with 'Premature Burial'. When 'Premature Burial' is destroyed, the equipped monster is destroyed." [Utgarde, the King of the Void] said with a hint of smugness. "And the monsters I Special Summon in Attack Position are these two monsters, 'Spirits of the Pot of Greed'!"

【The Spirit of the Pot of Greed】【1☆/Light】

[Angel Race/Effect]

[100/100]

"Then I activated the spell card [Pot of Greed], drawing two cards from my deck and triggering the effect of [Spirit of Pot of Greed]." After activating two [Premature Burials], [Utgard, the King of the Void,] with only three cards left in his hand, drew two cards from his deck, and then surprisingly drew two more.

"When [Pot of Greed] is activated, the duelist who activated [Pot of Greed] can draw another card from their Deck. This effect can only be activated and resolved if [Spirits of Pot of Greed] is face-up in Attack Position in the Monster Zone, but there is no limit to once per turn. Therefore, I can draw two more cards from my Deck using the effect of two [Spirits of Pot of Greed]!"

"Then comes the spell card 'Hurricane,' which returns all Spell and Trap Cards on the field to their owners' hands!"

【虚界王战-乌特加德：4000LP，手牌3→4→6→8】

Without using a single Normal Summon, [Utgard the Void King] managed to grow his hand to a full eight cards, even though some of them were [Mana Frugality] and two [Premature Burial] to make up the numbers, and he also had five other cards. Not to mention that he also Special Summoned two [Pot of Greed Spirits] to the field.

"【Premature Burial】only destroys the equipped monster when it is destroyed, and when it is returned to the hand by 【Hurricane】, it does not cause 【Pot of Greed Spirit】 to self-destruct. It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of combo. The main reason is that both 【Hurricane】 and 【Premature Burial】 are banned in another environment. And 【Pot of Greed Spirit】 has become a card with unclear meaning because of the ban on 【Pot of Greed】."

Hayato looked at the two monsters on the field in [War of the Void - Utgard] with some curiosity, "However, I still can't figure out what kind of abstract deck you're playing. Could it be... a banned deck?"

It's no wonder Hayato guessed that way. After all, the cards played at the start of the duel in "King of the Void - Utgard" were only a few, and only two of them, "Pot of Greed" and "Mana Frugality," were not banned. The rest were all perennial banned cards in the dueling environment of another world. Moreover, because of the existence of "Mana Frugality," he couldn't help but wonder if the other cards in "King of the Void - Utgard's" hand were cards like "Imprisonment" and "Mischievous Twin Demons," which also require paying Life Points.

However, [Void King War - Utgard] didn't actually bring a bunch of banned cards to play against Hayato, otherwise he would have planned to start filling the graveyard with [Tears of the Goddess] next turn. Although his deck wasn't a "pure [Tears of the Goddess]" deck, Hayato still included cards like [Half-Dragon Maid - Laundry Dragon Girl], [Death Stalker], and [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle] in his deck according to his own habits.

"This turn, my Normal Summon releases two [Pot of Greed] sprites on the field as tributes for a Tribute Summon."

"I, [Utgard, the King of the Void], hereby summon myself to the field!"

[War of the Void - Utgard] The two monsters on the field were useless after he played the only [Pot of Greed] in his deck. Their last use was as tributes. After the [Spirits of Pot of Greed] were released, they turned into points of light and disappeared, and were directly absorbed by the castle behind them.

"In my kingdom, nothing is true; in my kingdom, everything is permitted."

"Thunder cannot shake it, and trickery cannot corrupt it. As long as there is no reality, then illusion itself is eternal. Even on the day when the twilight of the gods descends, the city of Atgar will still be the shadow that shrouds this outer realm!"

"Call forth the name of Skrimir, and bow before Utgard Loki, the ruler of Outland, mortal!"

"Level 9☆, Superior Summon!"

"Reign supreme! [War of the Void Realms - Utgard]!"

[War of the Void Realm Kings - Utgard] [9☆/Light]

[Rock Faction/Effect]

[2200/2700]

The floating castle—【Void Realm King War - Utgard】 itself remained unmoved, but one of the grids in its monster zone disappeared, signifying that it had personally made its appearance!

Chapter 1360 Relics!

[Voidlord Warrior - Utgard: 4000 LP, 7 card in hand]

[War of the Void Realm Kings - Utgard] [DEF 2700]

"【The Void Realm King Battle - Utgard】is a noble 【King Battle】, where only one entity can exist on the field at a time. And I possess the absolute power to rule this desolate outer realm, the power to reign supreme over all the Rock Race!"

"All Rock-type cards? Let's not even talk about cards like [Demon Rescue], [Magnet Warrior], and [Gem Knight]. You can only brag if you can beat a single card like the invincible [Primal Lifeform - Nibiru]." Hayato chuckled dismissively. "Even [Prehistoric Legacy] might be better than you."

[Virtual Realm King Battle - Utgard] ignored Hayato's words because he had never heard of the cards Hayato mentioned. In his view, Hayato, as his opponent, was merely throwing out trash talk to distract him during the duel. There was no need to pay attention; he only needed to play his cards normally, and his powerful cards would be enough to silence Hayato.

"First, I activate the spell card [Mega Hammer] to return the two [Premature Burial] and [Mana Saving] cards in my hand to the deck along with [Mega Hammer], and then draw the number of cards returned—that is, four cards."

The opening hand is the anime version of [Mega Hammer] with its overpowered effect, and [Void King War - Utgard] adds another card. "Then comes the Normal Spell Card [Planetary Transformation]. I add a Field Spell Card from my deck—this [Giant Relic Portal]—to my hand, and then I activate it directly."

What's unusual is that instead of using a forbidden card, it's a powerful restricted card like [Planetary Transformation]. [Utgard the Void King] activated a Field Spell Card, causing the open space in front of him to deform and several heptagonal stone seats to rise from the ground, emitting a faint light, as if something might emerge from them.

Before Hayato could react, [King of the Void - Utgard] immediately activated another card, saying, "The next card I'm going to activate is this Ritual Monster card!"

"Betor's effect: Discard this card from my hand to activate this effect. Tribute monsters from my hand or field until the total Level of the Ritual Summoned monster is equal to or greater than the Level of the monster I am using. Ritual Summon a Ritual Monster consisting of one Bertor from my hand."

To Hayato's surprise, [Void King Battle - Utgard] discarded a card from his hand and then sent another card to the graveyard. "I've released the Level 8 [Brick Dragon] to Ritual Summon the Level 4 [Giant Stone Relic - Orpheus] from my hand!"

I'm overweight?!

Wait, it's actually a [megalithic relic]!?

Compared to the newly released "Brick Dragon," another banned card, Hayato is more concerned about the true deck revealed by "Utgard: The Void King"—the "Ritual Relics" series of cards that focus on rituals.

Just as Fusion decks devise strange methods to avoid the card disadvantage of Fusion, such as the Graveyard-based [Shaddoll] and Graveyard-based Fusion [Tears of the Goddess], Ritual decks also try to avoid the troublesome characteristic of Ritual Summoning due to the demanding requirements of Tributes, Spells, and Ritual Monsters. Examples include the Tribute effect of [Cyber ​​Angel], the Graveyard Ritual of [Vengeful Dead], and [Dragon's Glow] which sacrifices its Level and uses its ATK to meet the Tribute requirements.

The "Giant Stone Relic" is even more special than the "Dragon's Radiance" because it violates the ancestral teachings of Ritual Summoning. It doesn't have a single Ritual Spell Card in its own version. Instead, it uses Ritual Monsters themselves as tributes for Ritual Spell Cards and even Ritual Summoning, just like what "Utgard the Void King" did.

[War of the Void Realm Kings - Utgard] Among the many heptagonal stone pedestals before him, a dragon-shaped object made of building blocks was thrown into one of them, then seized by a demonic claw glowing with green light, dragged below and disappeared. Afterwards, a bluish-green light emanated from the pedestal, and an angelic statue slowly rose from its center.

[Megalithic Relics - Ophir] [4 stars/location]

[Rock Clan/Ritual/Effect]

[1600/2500]

"If [Stone Relic Orphiel] is successfully Ritual Summoned, activate its first effect: Add one [Stone Relic] monster other than [Stone Relic Orphiel] from my Deck to my hand - this [Stone Relic Foul]."

【Utgard the King of the Void】retrieved a card from the deck and continued, “Then, once per turn, I activate the second effect of 【Megastone Relic - Orpheus】on the field. During my Main Phase, I Tribute all cards in my hand and on the field, including 【Megastone Relic - Orpheus】on the field, until their total Levels exceed the Level of the Ritual Summoned monster. I then Ritual Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand.”

"I release the Level 4☆ [Metal Relic - Ophir] and Ritual Summon the Level 2☆ [Metal Relic - Fu'er] from my hand!"

The angel statue had only been on the scene for a short while when it began to disintegrate under the command of [Void King War - Utgard]. The sacred wings twisted to reveal the dragon-like wings hidden beneath, and the hexagonal stone base was inverted on the statue's head, surrounded by white wings and ferocious dragon wings, transforming into a seven-colored vortex that would make anyone dizzy just by looking at it.

[Megalithic Relics - Fuer] [2 stars/location]

[Rock Clan/Ritual/Effect]

[500/2000]

"Similar to [Stone Relic - Foul], [Stone Relic - Orpheus] also has an effect that can be activated when a Ritual Summon is successful." [King of the Void - Utgard] manipulated the iron fence to point to the area representing the Graveyard, "Targeting a Ritual Monster in my Graveyard, I activate the effect of [Stone Relic - Foul]. The Level of [Stone Relic - Foul] becomes the same as that monster. After that, the targeted monster is added to my hand."

"I chose the [Stone Relic - Bertol] that I used when I ritual-summoned [Stone Relic - Ophir], to upgrade [Stone Relic - Fu'er] to 8 stars, and then added [Stone Relic - Bertol] from my graveyard to my hand!"

"It's not over yet! I'll activate the second effect of [Metal Relic - Full] again. It can only be activated during the Main Phase for both players. It increases the total Levels of the monsters that are Ritual Summoned to more than the Level of the monsters that are Ritual Summoned. I Tribute monsters from my hand and field to Ritual Summon a monster that is a single [Metal Relic] from my hand and Deck."

"I release this Level 8 [Stone Relic - Bertol] from my hand, and then Ritual Summon [Stone Relic - Hekith] from my Deck!"

Following the angel, the statue that reappeared on the field of [Void Realm King Battle - Utgard] was a demon statue. The crouching demon covered its body with wings, and its entire body was covered with golden patterns. Even its wings were decorated with gold. It did not look like a level 4☆ monster at all.

[Megalithic Relics - Heigles] [4 stars/location]

[Rock Clan/Ritual/Effect]

[1300/2600]

"This effect can only be activated if [Stone Relic - Hegemon] is successfully Ritual Summoned. I add one [Stone Relic] Spell/Trap Card from my Deck to my hand. I choose [Stone Relic - Formless]. Then, because of the Special Summon of the [Stone Relic] monster, I choose to activate the effect of the Field Spell Card [Stone Relic Portal] now to add the one-piece Ritual Monster from my Graveyard—the newly Tributed [Stone Relic - Bertol]—to my hand."