Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

[GaiKa (Rabilins' Chain Formation)] [GaiKa] x2

"It's over?" Caesar frowned upon hearing Hayato's words.

"Although my field is completely cleared of monsters, I have no Spell & Trap Cards left, and my resources in the Graveyard are dwindling, isn't a duelist supposed to trust their deck until the very last card is drawn?" Straightening his back, Kaiser looked at Hayato, unable to read anything from his expression. "Or are you deliberately saying that to provoke me?"

"Although I only have two cards left in my hand, and I don't have a single card to activate or a single monster to summon, whether in my hand, on the field, or in my graveyard, it's too early to say that now."

Caesar ran his fingers over his deck, glancing at it, and said, "Truly powerful, Duel King. But your power has only fueled my greed. The more I see your strength, the more I crave to see even more and higher. So, just as you said before—"

"I bare my fangs at you, who sits atop the throne of the 'King of Duels'! I'll use this last draw to make a final stand!"

"My turn, draw!"

Not for victory, nor for respect, Caesar was drawing the card for himself at this moment, placing his hopes on this one card!

And this glorious moment, this simple card-drawing action, seemed to extend into eternity. Caesar, who was stepping towards "power" and starting to grow anew, had a moment when he clearly smelled the scent of electric charge breaking through the air, felt the heat of melting mechanical parts, heard the sound of metal rubbing together... and saw the figure of the [Electronic Dragon] who had been with him for many years!

He can see it, and he can see it too!

—The spirit residing within the card!

Flipping over the card he had drawn, an explosive power resided within it. The card, named [Electronic Technology Fusion Support], embodied Caesar's deck's response to him. Even Caesar couldn't help but let a barely perceptible smile appear on his lips upon seeing it.

At this moment, in his graveyard are the three monsters: [Cyber ​​Dragon II], [Cyber ​​Dragon IV], and [Chimera Rage Dragon]; and in his hand, in addition to the [Cyber ​​Technology Fusion Support] he just drew and [Power Weld] which was searched by the effect of [Cyber ​​Lighthouse], there is also a [Cyber ​​Laser Dragon].

On the surface, it seems that [Power Welding] alone cannot connect these cards, but the emergence of [Electronic Technology Integration Support] is giving rise to new possibilities!

Using [Cyber ​​Fusion Support], you can combine all these cards from your hand and graveyard together. While the cards are in the graveyard, under the control of [Cyber ​​Dragon Generation 4], whose card names can be used as [Cyber ​​Dragon], these banished monsters will be fused together into the powerful [Chimera Overload Dragon] through Fusion Summoning.

The fusion of the four monsters into the [Chimera Overload Dragon] will increase its Attack and Defense to 3200 points. Then, its Attack will double to 6400 points under [Power Welding], and it will be able to launch a total of four attacks in one battle phase!

Victory is within reach!

"During my preparation phase, I pay half of my Life Points and activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Cyber ​​Fusion Support]!" Even before entering the Main Phase, Caesar activated the card the moment he drew it.

[Marufuji Ryo: 1300→650LP, 2 cards in hand]

As Caesar paid out half of his life points in one go, his already meager life points plummeted to three digits. At the same time, a huge mechanical device rose up behind him, the paid life points being converted into electricity and flowing into it, emitting a sound like thousands of birds chirping in unison.

However, seeing this, Hayato simply smiled mysteriously, held up a finger to his lips, and gently blew on it: "Shh—"

"—During the trial, everyone must remain completely silent!"

In Hayato's backcourt, a card was quietly flipped open, revealing a red border.

Chapter 1420: He was just an ordinary person born in an era before Hayato's activities.

"—During the trial, everyone must remain completely silent!"

In Hayato's backcourt, a card was quietly flipped open, revealing a red border.

"Trap Card [Pharaoh's Judgment]! Chained with [Cybertech Fusion Support], I pay half of my Life Points and choose one of its effects to activate!"

(Original version)

[Hayato: 2000→1000LP, 1 card in hand]

Hayato continued, paying out half of his Life Points again: "The first option is, if there is a [Friendship YU-JYO] in my Graveyard, until the end of this turn, the effects of monsters on your opponent's field are negated, your opponent cannot Normal Summon, Flip Summon, Special Summon, or Set monsters, and the activation of monster effects cannot be performed and is negated!"

"However, I chose the second effect: if there is a [Unity] in my Graveyard, until the end of this turn, the effects of Spell & Trap Cards on your opponent's field are negated, your opponent cannot activate or Set Spell & Trap Cards, and the activation of Spell & Trap Card effects cannot be performed and are negated!"

"Nothing is impossible for the Pharaoh on earth; all things are in my hands!" Hayato clenched his fist. "Remain silent—before the Pharaoh!"

(Hayato version)

"It's... a complete blockade!?" Misawa exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the card Hayato played. "Just one card can achieve such an absurd blockade?!"

"You can't summon monsters in any form, not even set them. It's one thing to negate monster effects on the field, but you can't even activate monster effects from your hand or graveyard?" Manjoume looked disgusted. "What kind of cheat card is this?"

"It's not just monster effects, it can even seal the effects of Spell & Trap Cards. In other words, if it weren't Caesar going first but Hayato-sensei..." Jaden's eyes widened. "When it's Caesar's turn, wouldn't he be unable to do anything and have to skip his turn and end it directly?"

"That's not quite right. While the card 'Pharaoh's Judgment' is obviously overpowered, it has rather high requirements. Not only does it require paying half of your Life Points to activate, but it also requires the specified card to be in your Graveyard. I suppose Principal Hayato sent it to the Graveyard along with other cards when he used 'Neighborhood Grass Cutting' before."

Fubuki paused for a moment, then continued, "Moreover, only one of the two effects can be activated, so there's still some way out."

However, almost as if deliberately slapping Fubuki in the face, almost at the same time as he finished speaking, Hayato pressed the button to activate the face-down card again, revealing his second face-down card in the back row.

“It’s not over yet! Next, I’ll open this card and chain [Pharaoh’s Judgment] to activate the Normal Trap Card [Rabilins’ Chain]!” Hayato said. “When I activate a Normal Trap Card other than [Rabilins’ Chain], this card’s effect becomes the same as the effect of that Normal Trap Card when it is activated.”

"In other words, [Rabillins' Chain Array] will become the second [Pharaoh's Judgment]. This time, I choose to use the first effect of [Pharaoh's Judgment] to seal away the opponent's monster effects and monster card usage as well!"

"With this combination of cards, my opponent will be unable to use any cards this turn!"

Hayato pointed at Caesar and said, "You're not allowed to play Duel Monsters!"

C1 [Electronic Technology Integration Support] C2 [Pharaoh's Judgment] C3 [Rabillins' Chain Formation] During Caesar's preparation phase, his turn has already ended because he cannot use any cards during this turn due to the effect of [Pharaoh's Judgment].

Even if he only has [Power Welding] and [Electronic Laser Dragon], he still couldn't type out "Orichalcos God's Descent" even if you printed it out for him.

"Duel Monsters is such a cruel game, you know, Caesar." Hayato looked at his two cards that had taken effect in the chain, as well as the [Cyber ​​Fusion Support] that was directly negated by [Pharaoh's Lockdown]. "If one of the two duelists can play the game, that's about it."

"But that's not enough! The price for baring your fangs at the throne is this moment. I'm here to show you what 'utter defeat' means, and what it feels like to be 'unable to rise again'!"

The main phase of the game officially begins, but Hayato takes advantage of the fact that Caesar cannot use any cards and starts using cards again during Caesar's turn.

"Activate during the turn of both players when either [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth] is activated, or when [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth] is activated! Special Summon [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth] to my field in Defense Position!"

"Then, I activate my back row face-down card, [Bottle of Greed], which targets five cards in my graveyard, returns them to the deck, shuffles them, and draws one card."

"When a Normal Trap Card is activated, it chain-activates the effect of [Silver Princess of the Labyrinth Castle]. I select one Normal Trap Card from my Deck with a different name from that Normal Trap Card and set it on my field. I selected another [Rabilins Welcome Welcome Big Welcome] from my Deck!"

"After drawing a card, I activate the effect of my [Silver Castle's Fire Furnace], discard a card from my hand, and send my [Silver Castle's Fire Furnace] to the Graveyard. Then I choose [Rabillins' Chain Attack], which just returned to my Deck!"

"And the effect of [Silver Castle's Mad Clock] in the graveyard, because [Silver Castle's Fire Furnace] sends cards from my hand to the graveyard and adds [Silver Castle's Mad Clock] to my hand!"

"Next is the effect of [Silver Castle's Mad Clock]. Discard it from your hand to activate its effect, removing the restriction that Trap Cards cannot be activated during the turn they are set. Then activate [Rabillins Welcome Welcome Welcome] to Special Summon [Silver Castle's Fire Furnace] from my Graveyard and return [Silver Castle's Labyrinth Princess] to my hand."

"Because a Normal Trap Card removes a monster from the field, the effects of [Rabilins of the Silver Castle], [Ariana the Summoner of the Silver Castle], and [Ariana the Summoner of the Silver Castle] are activated! Destroy one card of your opponent randomly, and draw two cards from your Deck!"

"Then, using the effects of [Summoner of the Silver City - Ariana] and [Summoner of the Silver City - Ariana], I set the second [Bottle of Greed] I drew and [Pharaoh's Judgment], which had just returned to my deck, on the field!"

Hayato practically treated Caesar's turn as his own, rampaging through his hand. He not only increased his hand size from one to two cards, but also put the face-down cards he had just used back onto the field, as if time had turned back!

This also means that when it's Hayato's turn, he can once again use the combo of [Pharaoh's Judgment] and [Labyrinth's Chain Formation] to continue blocking Caesar's card usage during his turn, even if Caesar doesn't actually have any usable cards!

If Hayato's constant interference in Caesar's first round felt like "annoying" and "troublesome," then in Hayato's second round, he displayed an overwhelming sense of "oppression." And in the third round—the round where Caesar was deprived of the right to play the game and could only watch as others "narrated" their duels—Hayato unleashed a duel truly befitting the "King of Duels"—

In short, it's a duel filled with "despair" where nothing can be done, nothing can be accomplished, and it even makes you not want to do anything.

"Your turn ends, and then it's my turn again. I draw cards from my deck and then activate [Pharaoh's Judgment] and [Rabilinus's Chain Attack] again, choosing the first and second effects respectively to block the activation of your effects, spells, and traps against monsters this turn."

[Hayato Kobayashi: 1000→500LP]

Once again paying out his own life points, bringing his life points even lower than Caesar's, Hayato looked at Caesar and said, "I can use that same combo again to recover the traps in the graveyard. And since it's my turn, I can directly use the effect of [Rabillins of the Silver Castle] to directly recover [Pharaoh's Judgment]."

"But isn't it no longer necessary?"

As he spoke, Hayato waved his hand, "Change the display to attack mode, and then the final blow is up to you, Midori."

"[Ariana, the Summoner of the Silver City], a direct attack on the opposing duelist!"

Hayato glanced at the key in Green's hand that was perfect for throwing knives and exclaimed, "The move is called—Time Sign: Green's Special Stopwatch!"

(Neta from Sakuya’s [Time Talisman·Sakuya’s Special Stopwatch])

As Little Green swung the keychain, countless sharp knives pierced Caesar, wiping out his last life points before he could offer any resistance.

[Ariana the Summoner of the Silver City] [DEF2100→ATK1600]

[Ryo Marufuji: 1300LP → 0]

Seeing his life points drop to zero, Caesar did not show any frustration or despair at being defeated. Instead, he had a rather satisfied expression, as if he was content to have seen the view at the end of the “power” he had been looking forward to.

"Although you can truly enjoy the thrill of drawing a card in the real world, organizing the cards is still a bit of a hassle."

Caesar, who had just been knocked to the ground by Pink's final blow, glanced at Hayato, who was grumbling and sorting through the cards he had used, and suddenly asked, "You were really strong, Mr. Hayato. I may never forget this duel for the rest of my life."

"Is this what you look like when you go all out?" Caesar said, recalling the oppressive feeling he had just experienced, which was like that of a demon or a god.

"Ah~" Hayato didn't look at Caesar, but just said to himself, "Because my student asked me to use my full strength."

"..." Watching Hayato's retreating figure, Caesar remained silent for a moment, then turned his head to the side. "That was a lie, wasn't it? In your eyes, this duel was still just a game, only a little more serious than before."

"It's truly... satisfying yet regrettable."

The moment Caesar finished speaking, everything froze in that instant, and the scene on the television screen ceased to change.

"It's... satisfying yet regrettable." The silver-haired, blue-eyed boy looked at the playback progress bar that had reached its end, snapping out of his reverie from the finished video, and subconsciously uttered the same sentiment as Caesar lying on the ground in the video.

"Such an exhilarating and intense duel, I doubt any true duelist could remain unsatisfied. But judging from what that person said, this still wasn't Hayato's full strength?"

"Whether it's me or the person in the video who seems to be the best graduate of the Duel Academy this year, even if we have titles like 'genius,' 'prodigy,' or 'strongman,' we are ultimately just ordinary people born in an era before Mr. Hayato's active life."

"I'm so sorry I couldn't let Mr. Hayato have his fill; it's such a shame."

Hearing the silver-haired boy's dejected words, the blue-haired man sitting next to him helplessly closed his mysterious purple eyes and rubbed his forehead: "I wanted you, Edward, to understand the strength your opponent could muster when he went all out the last time, but you focused entirely on Kobayashi Hayato."

"Besides, aren't you being far too self-deprecating? Although I know you've always regarded him as an idol, how big can the gap be between you and him, having won the World Professional Duelist Championship this year?"

After hearing his friend and manager's words, the silver-haired boy, Ed Phoenix, who is also the champion of this year's World Pro Duelist Championship, said quite seriously: "It's different. If Mr. Hayato wanted to, he could also become a world champion, but even if we are both world champions, Mr. Hayato and I are absolutely different. Mr. Hayato's world championship is because the highest is the champion; while my world championship is simply because the highest is the champion."

"You, Saiou, who isn't a duelist, surely wouldn't understand?"

Saiou rubbed his temples. "Could you please speak in Japanese? I can't understand what you're saying."

Edward shook his head: "What he meant was that my championship title wasn't very prestigious. If it weren't for your divination, Saiou, I wouldn't have been able to prepare specific cards to counter each of my opponents' tactics and win."

Edward, the "information flow" duelist, said this, then looked at Hayato in the video, "But Mr. Hayato, he can probably easily deal with any opponent, right? That [Pharaoh's Judgment] card is truly terrifying."

"However, not only [Pharaoh's Judgment], but also those two cards, 'Unity' and 'Friendship,' are ones I've hardly ever seen before?"

Saiou said nonchalantly, "After all, the International Illusion Society is basically a one-man show by Kobayashi Hayato. I guess he used that power to make his own exclusive cards, right?"

After turning off the screen in the lounge, Saiou and Edward stood up and walked outside. They followed the long corridor to the exit, where a spacious area appeared before them.

"Hello everyone, I'm Sarai Hiraki, who never stirs up trouble."

"I'm your commentator, Minazuki-kun. Alright everyone, let's play cards this time!"

"The 5th World Pro Duelist Championship, we've kept you all waiting!" X2

The voices of the two commentators came through the sound system: "As the first preliminary match of this year's World Championship to feature a Hall of Fame duelist, it has attracted a lot of attention from the very beginning. This is not only because of the audience's love for Duel Monsters, but also because of the high level of buzz surrounding both participants!"

"What we can see is that the challenger has already entered the arena. It is Ryo Marufuji, who graduated from the Duel Academy this year with the top score and entered the professional duelist circle as a 'supernova'!"

"Speaking of which, 'Caesar' is your junior, right, Minazuki-kun? So, are you confident in his performance this time?"