Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"Hey, did you see that bird over there?" Malik couldn't help but ask Iso, the only person beside him. "That's Harpy, right? Duel Monster—Harpy! Unbelievable, it doesn't look like anyone's dueling. Could it be a wild Card Spirit?"

Stroking his chin, Malik speculated, then remembered something: "I almost forgot, not everyone can see the existence of the card spirits."

“No, I saw them, those Harpies.” However, to Malik’s surprise, Isono calmly admitted that he had seen the elves.

"Uh, so why are you so calm?" Malik looked at Isono with some surprise.

Although he remembered that Isono had been active as a referee in the Duel City a few years ago, and that Isono could still calmly declare the winner of the battle amidst the aftermath of the attacks from the three Egyptian Gods, which alone was enough to show his big heart, Malik did not expect that he would be so calm even when he saw the Pokémon in person.

"And you actually have this kind of talent?"

"Talent? Isn't that something anyone with normal eyesight can see?" However, Isono said to Malik with a strange look, "It's not just me, many people who were brought to the island by Mr. Hayato to participate in the construction and renovation have seen the images of those card monsters."

"An image of a card monster? That's a card spirit, isn't it?" Malik raised an eyebrow and corrected him.

"No, it must be an image of a card monster. Although we don't know the principle, our president said that unscientific things like card spirits don't exist. Those 'Harpies' must be images of card monsters created using a device that works on a similar principle to a virtual projection system."

"Tsk, why are you so superstitious about science, just like Seto Kaiba? Oh right, your company president is Seto Kaiba, never mind then." Malik didn't argue with Isono or try to persuade him, but instead leaned against the window watching the forest being swept by the helicopter.

Countless Duel Monsters, some Malik could name and some he couldn't, roamed the forest as if they were inhabiting it. Moreover, from Iso's words, we learned that all the card spirits of these Duel Monsters were visible and could be seen by ordinary people, as if they were visual images created by a virtual projection system. Furthermore, from the branches that were broken when they moved and the soil that they trampled and deformed, we could see that they were not only visible but also materialized!

The area Malik passed through already had such a large number of Card Spirits. It's hard to believe how many Card Spirits must exist on such a vast island. Such an exaggerated number and physical range is something that ordinary virtual projection systems cannot do. Even Malik, who used to wield the Millennium Scepter, did not have the confidence to do it.

This inevitably reminded Malik of the KC Cup from the past, where the otherworldly aura emanating from the Spirit Realm could rapidly transform the existing environment, allowing Duel Monsters that originally lacked a physical body to acquire a materialized form.

Could this island have been completely transformed into an otherworldly realm belonging to elves? That would explain why so many card elves have materialized.

Moreover, since only the area where this island is located has become like the Elf Realm, even if the elves on the island leave and are separated from their "native" homeland, they will soon be rejected by the human world and become like most elves, existing but completely unable to interfere with reality. Only a few people with the ability of "Elf Masters" can see and communicate with them.

"Without making a sound, he actually managed to create such an incredible place. He truly lives up to his brother-in-law's reputation." Malik had always held Hayato in high esteem, who had once saved him, given him a second chance at life, defeated his dark personality, and was deeply loved by his sister. But he never imagined that Hayato could pull off something so extraordinary.

"But are those kids going to have a 'survival in the wild' activity on an island teeming with elves?"

Malik now understood what Hayato had said earlier. He had just seen Hayato's [Predatory Plant] lurking on the island. Who knew what other dangers might be involved? No wonder Hayato told Jaden and the others that even the fastest people would probably take a week to reach the center of the island. "Tsk tsk, I can only wish them good luck."

"I don't want to go to such a dangerous place. If I'm going to go, I'll go to the big villa in the center of the island and stay in a big house."

The helicopter gradually slowed down as it approached the center of the island. Malik could clearly see the four-story villa that Hayato had mentioned. At that moment, the helicopter, piloted by Isono, was circling to find a suitable angle and hovering above the empty helipad before slowly landing.

Malik also carefully observed Iso's movements, so he didn't fail to learn anything.

On the other hand, why was the Harpy startled and taken flight from the jungle?

"Am I dreaming?" Asuka stared in disbelief at what lay before her, muttering to herself.

After landing, she chose to first use the portable knife in her backpack to carve the approximate terrain she had memorized onto the cut-resistant parachute pack, creating a simple map with the marks left by the knife. Then, she quickly determined her approximate location based on the surrounding environment she had seen before landing.

In Hayato's backpack, Asuka found portable instant meals such as mochi, yakisoba, and risotto, as well as a heating pack that could be used with just water. The quantity was indeed enough to supply at least a week's needs, just as Hayato had said. In addition, there was a set of storage brackets that could be set up as a tent frame with ground pegs. All that was needed was a tarpaulin to make a tent that could be used by one person. And the tarpaulin was the easiest thing to find on hand.

Since that's the case, Asuka decided not to go to the supply points on the island that Hayato mentioned, but instead headed straight for the destination. Hayato had also said that there would be no dangerous wild beasts on the island, only some 'small animals', so she could set up camp in peace without worrying about being attacked by wild beasts.

Putting aside others, Judai and Manjoume would definitely do the same as me, choosing to head straight for the finish line instead of looking for supply points. I'm not sure how long they'll spend confirming my location and determining the direction of travel, so I must act quickly to catch up with their advantage of parachuting earlier.

After packing away the food, tent frame, hemostatic medicine, bandages, and a series of other miscellaneous items she had also taken from her bag, Asuka slung her backpack over her shoulder again and continued on her way.

After walking only a short distance through the forest, Asuka keenly sensed that something was amiss. Compared to the time when she had just landed, retracted her parachute, and organized her backpack, the forest was far quieter and less noisy.

She looked around and, although she felt something was off, she couldn't find anything strange. Even though the trees didn't block out the sunlight, Asuka always felt that something was hidden in the bright forest.

Frowning, Asuka turned around and continued on her way. About ten meters later, she heard the sound of wind coming from the forest.

But it wasn't the gentle sound of airflow passing between trees and leaves; it was the whooshing sound of something moving rapidly!

Following her instincts, Asuka suddenly rolled away from where she stood, and then instinctively kicked back to where she had been standing. Her kick landed squarely on the face of the woman who was swooping down from the sky!

"Wow!"

Looking at the woman before her, with her beautiful human female face and hot figure, but limbs with bird claws and wings, exactly like the Harpy... no, rather, she was a materialized Harpy, Asuka's eyes widened: "Am I dreaming?"

Chapter 1453 The circle drawn here is stronger than an impregnable fortress; no matter what tigers, leopards, wolves, insects, demons, or monsters dare to approach.

"Goo..."

Despite being kicked by herself, the Harpy didn't seem to be seriously injured at all. Instead, she seemed to be enraged, baring her teeth at Asuka.

Shocked by the sight of a Duel Monster materializing in the real world, Asuka also keeps a close watch on the Harpy in front of her. But just as she is focused on the Harpy, which is only making a fierce appearance but not actually making any attacking moves, another whooshing sound suddenly comes from the air!

With a decisive side jump, Asuka leaped away from her spot. Even though the force of the jump was so great that her body crashed directly into a tree, she was still relieved. She saw that another harpy had swooped down and pounced on the spot where she had just been standing. At the same time, the first harpy, which had been silent until now, took the opportunity to strike with its sharp claws, even cutting off a strand of her hair.

What "the wolf feigns sleep to lure the enemy"? Asuka couldn't help but think of an ancient text she had learned in the past and thought to herself.

It was at this moment that she looked up and finally realized that there were not only the first and second harpies she had initially spotted, but at least six or seven more harpies circling overhead, seemingly regarding her as their prey.

Based on her initial kick, Asuka could tell that while the Harpies were stronger than her, they weren't without a chance of fighting back, provided there was only one. Upon discovering the second one, Asuka began planning how to injure one to scare the others away. But how many were there in total?

Previously, Asuka couldn't quite understand why Hayato would say things like "a strong physique is a duelist's necessity" when he forcibly included her and Jaden in the list of participants for this "Wilderness Survival" event, and that even if they couldn't resist a duelist's great enemy like heart disease, they could at least use their strong legs in times of crisis.

That's right. As we all know, the power that human legs can exert is far greater than that of fists. When facing a Harpy, whose strength far surpasses that of humans, this is the moment when Hayato-sensei says to use his powerful thighs!

That is to say-

Without hesitation, Asuka turned around and started running: "Get the road oiled~"

The two Harpies that landed were initially startled by Asuka's fierce gaze, which seemed to be a desperate fight. Especially when they saw her legs straining, they thought she was about to retaliate. Who would have thought that Asuka, whose eyes seemed to hold the power of a lion, would choose to run away the next moment?

This action successfully enraged the harpies. After the two on the ground let out an angry cry, the other harpies in the sky stopped circling and seemed to follow Asuka as they swooped down. The two that had landed earlier also took off to prepare to launch another swooping attack.

Harpies, though they can fly at speeds like eagles, are destined to be unable to adjust their flight trajectories as freely as real eagles due to their humanoid bodies. This means that when they hunt, they either use the power of a high-altitude swoop to kill their prey in one blow or grab their prey and throw it to its death from the air. They are unable to perform a flexible dive attack followed by an immediate ascent.

This means that when the harpies act alone, if their prey is too alert, they are very likely to dodge their first attack, which has the highest success rate. However, once the prey relaxes its guard, the attack launched by the second harpy is also quite successful. But what if both attacks are dodged?

Since the hit rate of a single attack is low, we'll win by sheer numbers. That is, a series of consecutive dive attacks from multiple Harpies—the Harpy-Phoenix Formation!

Completely unleashing their power and no longer concealing their presence, the Harpies flew at high speed like intercontinental ballistic missiles. Just as they were about to attack Asuka, they swooped down, ignoring the trees in their path and smashing them down. Asuka was chased through the forest as if she were being pursued by a series of rockets.

At the same time, being chased by Duel Monsters made her involuntarily recall the many adventures she had experienced in the past.

Just a hair's breadth away from hitting me, and now they've taken off again and swooped down again in just a few seconds, maybe ten seconds at most. So calm down, Asuka, you have to figure out a way to resolve this situation—there's no one else you can rely on, you're all alone!

I've encountered situations where I'm attacked by Duel Monsters before, like in the recent "Duel-Links" series. To deal with those monsters, I used Duel Monster cards to summon them and then materialize them for battle. However, that was in the virtual world; I don't possess that kind of supernatural power in reality!

Holding onto the trunk of a giant tree, Asuka used the momentum of her forward momentum to make a sharp turn, thus successfully avoiding an attack launched prematurely by a harpy. However, Asuka was not relieved, because she noticed that the harpies that had landed earlier had regrouped in the air, preparing to launch a simultaneous attack to block all her escape routes!

No, speaking of which, in the real world, Duel Monsters aren't easily materialized. Asuka recalled a time when she invited Jaden out to play cards, and Jaden mentioned that when he was a first-year student, he encountered someone playing a summoning game and accidentally created a [Homunculus - Psychic Shocker] spirit.

But even that evil and powerful spirit needed the souls of the three students who created it to be truly born, and before that, each sacrifice of a person would gradually give it a certain amount of materialized power.

In other words, the fact that the Harpies, who are not as powerful as the "Three Egyptian Gods" or "Three Egyptian Demons," can materialize must be for some reason. And judging from the range of their activities, they don't seem to be worried about disappearing if they get too far away from the source that provides them with power.

That's it! Just like the Valley of the King's Long Sleep! Asuka thought of the secret little world behind the Duel Academy, where a large number of Gravekeeper monsters lived, unrestrained by cards or anything like that, just like the Harpies flying freely in the sky before her. Maybe it's not some special power, but rather that the area beneath her feet itself possesses the power to materialize Duel Monsters!

And the best way to prove this is—

Asuka pulled out her Duel Disk, donned it in a somersault, and, kneeling to steady herself, watched the Harpies swooping down from the air. She didn't have time to check what cards were on top of her deck; she only had time to pull the deck from her waist pouch, insert it into the Duel Disk's slot, then swiftly draw cards and hold them up in front of her: "Respond to me—"

"【The Solemn Dragon Sage Princess - Safira】!"

As Asuka raised the card, she actually managed to summon a Duel Monster from it in that instant, despite not possessing any supernatural abilities. The Dragon Princess Saphira transformed into human form, and the Solemn Dragon Princess Saphira unleashed a powerful shockwave of light, blasting away all the Harpies that were trying to attack Asuka!

"Wow!" "Eek!" "Croak!"

Even the three Harpy sisters wouldn't be a match for Saphira, the Dragon Sage of the Solemn Voice. How much less could these Harpies in front of Asuka, whose only redeeming quality was their sheer numbers, capable of only bullying weak monsters like Disruption in a group? Under Saphira's power, they were instantly repelled, scattering in panic from the forest and rising into the air, fleeing like startled birds.

After that, Safira, the Dragon Sage Princess of Solemnity, who was floating in the air, turned around and looked at Asuka, who had summoned her, just like the scene in Prayer of Solemnity.

Asuka stared in disbelief at the solemn Dragon Sage Princess Saphira before her, catching a feather that drifted down from her. The tactile sensation of the feather confirmed that she wasn't dreaming, and she murmured, "I actually summoned a materialized Duel Monster?"

But in the next moment, the figure of [Solemn Dragon Princess - Safira] disappeared from Asuka's sight, and Asuka felt weak. It seemed that the appearance of [Solemn Dragon Princess - Safira] required Asuka's strength to maintain.

The wisp of golden particles drifting in the wind almost made Asuka think she was dreaming, but the feather left in her hand reminded her that she wasn't hallucinating—she really had successfully summoned a physical Duel Monster while being pursued by the Harpies!

I don't understand the principles at all, but that's okay. I roughly understand the magical rules that exist on this island—the Duel Monsters have the special power to materialize, and the Duelists can also materialize their cards to fight them, but this requires consuming something like stamina to maintain the cards' existence.

Whether to take a longer route to avoid battle and conserve energy, or to summon spirits to travel as quickly as possible, these participants in the "Wilderness Survival" program need to choose between these two options and find a suitable balance by being flexible and adaptable. With the support of supply points along the way, they must break through the dueling monsters on the island and advance towards the center of the island. This may be the real challenge of this "Wilderness Survival" program!

Just as Asuka was thinking this, her stomach suddenly growled, interrupting her train of thought.

Although Asuka knew about the "wilderness survival" event beforehand and that Hayato would prepare supplies for everyone, she was still a sixteen-year-old girl. Girls of this age can't let go of their body management and overeat. Even her breakfast before setting off today was just a simple piece of duel bread—with salad filling.

Judging by the time, it seemed to be around noon. After escaping from the Harpy and summoning the Solemn Dragon Princess - Saphira, Asuka felt that rather than risking her life while her stamina was insufficient, she should find a place to recover and organize the existing information for a longer-term plan.

Although she had been running around in the forest, the traces left by the harpies' attacks were so obvious that Asuka was not unable to find her way back. She quickly reconfirmed her approximate location on the map, and then, based on her memory of the map, she quickly discovered that there should be a wide open space nearby, which was probably the "supply point" that Hayato had mentioned.

Because of the change in strategy, Asuka felt it was better not to continue camping in the wild. Instead, she decided to take advantage of the first day to see what the "supply point" that Hayato-sensei had mentioned was like.

As she walked, she ate a piece of dough that had broken when she hit a tree earlier, mixed it with seasoning powder, and ate it like instant noodles. This served both to fill her stomach and replenish her energy, and to lighten her load. Fortunately, the map that Asuka remembered was not too wrong, and she soon found an open space that seemed to be a supply point. Sure enough, there was a conspicuous sign with the words "Supply Point" written on it, and some small print below the sign, which seemed to be supplementary information.

Asuka also noticed that there was a fairly large circle drawn in the center of the open space, and inside the circle was a large box about the height of a person, which probably contained supplies.

However, Asuka did not rashly step into that circle. Who knew if it might represent some kind of trap? It's understandable that Asuka was suspicious. After all, she knew from Fubuki that there was a saying circulating in Duel Academy: "When danger comes, Principal Hayato can give people a great sense of security, but when it is safe, Principal Hayato is the greatest danger."

Students who have studied at the school for more than a year would generally agree on the truth of this statement. Even the two freshmen, Ed Phoenix and Dilano Sword Mountain, have probably realized how apt this statement is after being on the island for some time.

With a readiness to turn and run at any moment, Asuka approached the standee and began to read the small print written on it—

Rule 1: Participants may take any supplies from the aid station, but may only take the amount of supplies that can be held in one backpack when leaving the station.

Rule Two: The supply depot is safe, but you cannot survive without fighting... Enter the supply depot.

Rule 3: The consequence of violating the rule is automatic withdrawal.

Asuka looked away from the standee, her brow furrowed as she re-examined the unremarkable white circle in the center of the open space. After a moment's thought, she finally stepped forward and entered the white circle that truly represented the "supply station."

The next moment, a sudden gust of wind arose in front of Asuka, and a dark shadow swooped down from the sky, crashing to the ground and sending dust flying. The next instant, its outstretched wings swept away the dust, revealing a bird of prey standing before Asuka!

Because she knew the other person so well, Asuka couldn't help but say their name out loud: "—[Sonic Bird]?!"

Chapter 1454 Surpassing the Speed ​​of Sound

"[Sonic Bird]?"

When Asuka saw the sign that read "You cannot enter the supply area without fighting," she had a premonition that once she stepped into the white circle, a powerful enemy would inevitably appear and confront her.

This is probably part of the "survival in the wild" challenge. Unlike the previous Harpies, this test may be testing the basic qualities of a duelist – namely, the most basic dueling skills.

Asuka considered various scenarios, such as a cup suddenly falling to the ground, eight hundred axemen jumping out and surrounding her, or the monsters that would jump out to oppose her being powerful, if not as powerful as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but at least stronger than the Harpies from before.

But... [Sonic Bird]?

It's not that Asuka looks down on the other party. After all, as a ritual summon support monster similar to [Senju-gami], she knows the other party and acknowledges its strength. However, that is only its strength as a Duel Monster Card. After the monster materializes, the strength of [Sonic Bird] is only slightly stronger than [Harpie] in terms of attack power alone. It doesn't feel as oppressive as a group of [Harpies].

"Hmph, what kind of look is that? Are you looking down on me? It's like you're talking about a black bastard who fell into the water and drowned!"

Just as Asuka was examining the Sonic Bird, she suddenly heard it make a sound.