Duels should be played with a smile.

If all else fails, we can run away for now and take revenge later!

"You might have some misunderstandings... Never mind, since you don't seem to be as mischievous as Yata, I'll take you with me."

"Huh? Yata Ue? What's he doing... Hey hey hey?! What are you doing... Ah!!!"

Before the anaconda could figure out what Ella meant by "Yata-u," a jade-green light appeared in Ella's hand. She grabbed at the anaconda, and the anaconda—no, the snake—was transformed into a card with a blue border by Ella.

Um... it's the animated GIF type.

"That's more convenient. And it also avoids physical contact with you."

"And someone like you should be able to help him even more."

Carrying the now-card-like anaconda, Ella was shrouded in black mist, taking on a form somewhat similar to those small fry from before. Surprisingly, she fooled those brainless guys and successfully headed towards Leyou's direction.

"Interesting... Is it also a being born from darkness? This level is rather shameful."

Chapter Eighteen: I Want Them All!

After overcoming numerous obstacles and giving Long Huiqiao and his two older brothers a good beating today, Leyou finally met the culprit behind this trouble.

Before entering the barrier, Leyou had some guesses, and the appearance of the guy in front of him confirmed his guesses.

Although the timeline is different, the people causing trouble are still the same. It's just that behind the King of the West is not the Light of Destruction, but this Darkness.

To be fair, Darkness's image is pretty cool.

It's almost a standard medieval demon image, complete with a black cloak.

With six wings on its back, it could be used to cosplay as a fallen angel, except that each wing has a card hanging on it, which is probably a unique feature of this world.

"The thing I hate most is something that happens outside of the plan."

Darkness glanced down at Leyou, then folded its wings and descended from the sky.

As he fell, the dark shadows centered on him, covering a large area, all turned back into mist and returned to his body.

Suddenly, the surroundings became somewhat empty.

"Coincidentally, I also dislike unplanned events. However, whenever something unexpected happens, a thought pops into my head, telling me that plans can never keep up with changes, and only adaptability is the best plan."

At first, Leyou also found that idea strange, but since he started playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, he has come to understand it very well.

After all, the only thing you can't defend against in a duel is a dog-stealing attack.

“Your idea makes some sense, but it has nothing to do with interfering with the implementation of my plan.”

"What does that existence have to do with you? If not, I suggest you leave now, and then we can live in peace as if nothing ever happened."

Darkness had no choice but to be so cautious.

He used to be too arrogant, recklessly running around and causing trouble. As a result, he was directly defeated by that incredibly powerful overlord with an ultimate five-for-one exchange, a woman giving birth to a child.

So now he's very careful in everything he does, avoiding fighting whenever possible, and using his underlings and clones instead of personally getting involved.

Thanks to his caution, his plan has so far been without any unexpected problems.

"If we're talking about connections, then there definitely are. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come all this way here, right?"

It's unclear why Darkness didn't immediately start attacking, but Leyou took the opportunity to rest and even openly pulled out his deck in front of Darkness to start adjusting his build.

He wanted to see just how good Darkness's self-control really was.

“Your attitude isn’t very tough. Based on my understanding of humans, this usually means they’re asking for something in return.” Darkness quickly came to his conclusion. With a flap of his wings, six neat rows of cards appeared on the six wings that had previously only had one card hanging on each.

"If the price for your departure is something else, I have many excellent rare cards here. You can choose any number you want and take them away."

"You can take them all?" Le You was taken aback. Have bosses these days learned to keep up with the times? And they're so generous?

"Anything I list is fine."

Having already witnessed Leyou's general strength through those clones, Darkness's cards this time were of relatively high quality. While not among the absolute best, they were certainly not bad either.

The best ones should naturally be kept in our own hands to deal with the tough battles that might follow a breakdown in negotiations.

He wasn't just outwardly amiable; he was a genuine pacifist.

True pacifism involves pointing a gun at someone's head to demand peace.

"You're so generous!"

Sensing that Ella seemed to have stopped and hadn't sent any signals of trouble, Leyou, who had been arguing with Darkness for so long, finally felt relieved.

It was worth all that time he spent arguing with this guy.

"You are very generous, and I also like generous people."

"So, you agree?" Darkness was overjoyed, and at the same time felt that his understanding of human nature had reached a new level.

"In that case, take these cards and leave."

Darkness flapped its wings, and at least sixty cards floated lightly into Leyou's hands.

He knew that people are inherently greedy, so to avoid any complications, he skipped the selection step altogether.

The meaning is quite clear: grab it quickly and leave.

Unfortunately, he still didn't understand just how dark a person's heart could be.

"It seems you're not as generous as I thought." Le You shook his head and casually put the card he had just put in his hand into his pocket.

Then he took out his Duel Disk and started a duel.

"???"

"Didn't we already agree on the terms???"

“Yeah,” Leyou replied with a smile, “But then I thought, if I can take away sixty cards without doing anything, then I might as well just skin you alive, and all your cards will be mine. Wouldn’t that be even more profitable?”

Since I'm just making up any excuse anyway, I might as well come up with an even more blood pressure-raising reason!

"So, please stay here!"

"Uncle, I'd rather have them all!"

"Duel!"

The duel begins, and everything unrelated to the duel is excluded. Under Darkness's furious gaze, Leyou announces the start of the duel.

[Roll Points: Leisure 4, Darkness 3]

"Wow~ Looks like I'm on a lucky streak today!"

"If you win the dice, of course you have to go first!"

"My turn!"

Leyou drew out five cards, glanced at them casually, and felt a little conflicted.

It seems there aren't many options left for this hand of cards.

"Since we're merging dimensions, we'll definitely have to use methods that belong to fusion to defeat you!"

"Power of the Brand! Descend upon this place!"

A mark resembling a holy stigma appeared beside Leyou, a power emanating from the two beings in the deck who seemed to exist as one and inseparable twins.

"Magic Card [Imprint Fusion]!"

"You can only activate 1 card name per turn, and you can only Special Summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck during the turn you activate it."

"Send 2 Fusion Material Monsters from your hand, Deck, or field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon 1 Fusion Monster using 'Albus's Fallen Seed' as Fusion Material from your Extra Deck!"

This is the ultimate secret of fusion! Deck fusion!

You can summon a powerful Fusion Monster by spending only 1 card, and you can also earn extra resources by sending Fusion Materials to the Graveyard!

"A very powerful card... but precisely because of that, I will not allow it to pass!"

Darkness shouted loudly and threw away a card in his hand.

"Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, because your Mark Fusion has the effect of sending cards from the deck to the graveyard, it is negated!"

If she appears on your side, she's an adorable puppy; if she appears on the other side, she's a middle-aged woman with a wide forehead.

This time, the woman with the wide forehead came on strong, determined to shatter the power of the brand!

Do you think I would be unprepared?

The reason why we didn't use other cards to scam the gray market, and there was no other choice, is for one simple reason!

"Quick-Play Spell Card! [Called from the Grave]!"

"Remove and nullify the Ash Blossoms from your graveyard!"

Faced with Ash Blossom's threat, no one with hands will stop!

A finger with special magical power reached out from the cemetery and spun around and around Ash Blossom, turning Ash Blossom's eyes into circles like mosquito coils, as if she were hypnotized.

The subsequent developments are too numerous to recount, but in short, Ash Blossom Lady returned empty-handed and even got herself into trouble.

Darkness didn't have Yashiki-warashi, Ash Blossom's good friend, to rescue them, so the fusion of the marks went smoothly.

"I use [Albus's Fallen Heir] and [Tragic Death: The Actor of the Prison Village] from my deck as materials to perform a Fusion Summon!"

Although this fusion monster is based on Alp, it is well known that the main material monster of a fusion monster can often be replaced, so it is reasonable to replace Alp with a tragic actor!

"One who has split from the abyss mocks the light and deceives the darkness! Driving the power of emptiness, devouring the power of the imprint, transforming it into the flames of the Age of Gods, the fire of calamity, and forging a new form to descend upon this place!"

"Fusion Summoning! LV8, [Divine Flame Dragon Hellfire Dragon]!"

The hollow boy devoured the dragon that belonged to Albus, and under the reflection of the mark, he transformed into a majestic dragon that commanded divine flames.

[Light · 8★ · Dragon · Defense 3000]

Darkness started by performing a deck fusion, and his gaze toward Leyou became even more wary.

He remembered clearly that even that overlord did not use deck fusion, a technique that only exists in the hands of top fusion duelists, when he was fighting him. But today, the duel has only just begun, and he has already seen this way of avoiding the only disadvantage of fusion.

This person is not as simple as he appears; his greed may just be a disguise.

"The effect of Divine Flame Dragon can be activated once per turn by discarding 1 card from your hand if it is successfully Fusion Summoned. You can return materials from Fusion Monster Cards of Level 8 or lower, other than those with the same name, from your field, Graveyard, or banished monsters to your Deck to perform a Fusion Summon!"

You cannot merge with yourself again, but you can be used as material for this fusion.

That's right. The mighty Divine Flame Dragon is actually mostly used as a springboard to summon other monsters.