Duels should be played with a smile.

However... after retrieving the Divine Judgment, Leyou also vaguely sensed the other Whisper Spirits. In his perception, which required him to calm down and carefully "listen" for it to take effect, he had a relatively clearer sense of the Pendulum Arc.

Leyou has long experienced the power of the fields of Entertainment Partner and Entertainment Mage. This inherent power is unlikely to become too weak over time, unlike that of Divine Judgment.

If we could retrieve them, it would undoubtedly be a great help, but now... the timing of this massive dimensional storm is just too coincidental.

……

"Take away my satisfaction? Ha!"

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Guiliu's usually expressionless face.

He recalled the days long ago when he and Yusei and the others would shout "Satisfied! Satisfied!" all day long.

He was certain that the woman in front of him was somewhat of a mystery, but he didn't care. After teetering on the brink of death several times, he had long since become immune to all kinds of mystery people.

No matter how enigmatic someone is, there's a universal solution—keep them shut up forever.

"You want to duel me, right? Then let's cut to the chase and get started."

His gaze was fixed on Octoris, but Octoris's stunning figure and daring attire failed to stir any emotion in Guiliu.

Octoris, on the other hand, has a cold personality that contrasts with her passionate and outgoing appearance.

She didn't say much, and simply unfolded her duel disk—compared to Guiliu's somewhat flashy left-handed pistol-shaped duel disk, hers seemed to be even cooler.

It was a sword. After the blade was stretched out, it wrapped around Octoris's arm, encasing her like armor. The extra part that appeared during the transformation became the main body of the Duel Disk.

It was a sword, a snake-belly sword that could freely extend and retract.

After seeing the eye-catching way the Duel Disk was set up, Kiryu couldn't help but nod slightly.

In this small town, all sorts of people and all kinds of duel disks exist, but this was the first time he had ever seen a duel disk that was so flashy yet exuded a dangerous aura.

"Complacency is the greatest enemy of this world. The more you have, the easier it is to stop yourself... Enough of this nonsense, let's settle this with a duel."

As if shouting a slogan, Octoris casually uttered a couple of seemingly plausible words, then pulled out a deck of cards that still carried a slight warmth from a deep valley and placed it into the Duel Disk.

The onlookers hiding in the street-side tavern were filled with envy. If it weren't for the things Octoris had done before that were still fresh in their minds, they might have started whistling and jeering.

Gui Liu was naturally unmoved by Octoris's insincere slogans, but Octoris's act of taking out her deck made him pay attention—it had nothing to do with what he had seen by chance, but mainly because this woman always exuded a strange feeling in her actions.

She came on strong and aggressive, but became unapproachable once the fight started. Her clothing was daring, yet she seemed completely unconcerned about her image, indifferent to anything outside her objective, like a ruthless card-playing machine. However, she had just acted in ways completely inconsistent with her previous aloof demeanor...

"Since that's the case, then so be it."

A tumbleweed flew between the two at just the right moment, stirring up dust and drawing a dividing line between them.

There was no time for the tedious process of writing down the bets, because what Octoris wanted was clearly stated from the beginning.

No one knows how she's going to take away a concept.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

The dice spun in the sky until, at a certain moment, Guiliu's hand touched the trigger on the dueling disk, a gunshot rang out, and the dice fell to the ground.

[Kyousuke Onyanagi: 20 points]

Octoris: 8 o'clock

Kiryu himself was somewhat surprised to roll the highest number on the 20-sided die, while Octoris remained unmoved, whether she had expected the result or was confident that her deck could handle both first and second turns.

"I'll take the initiative."

Infernal Flame is not a deck that relies on going second; rather, it can be described as an ultimate deck that allows for explosive play from the first turn. As for Ghost Willow, there is no possibility of giving up the first turn.

In fact, when choosing to go first, Kiryu was also gambling.

Knowing in advance that someone wanted to duel him, he adjusted his deck before coming—not to mention whether he would encounter a situation like Yuki Onna where the deck was destroyed, preparing a sufficiently rich strategy is a basic skill for duelists.

Before he returned from Yusei, he had already had his underlings in the town collect all sorts of cards for him, especially those that had appeared recently, which were on his watchlist.

Coincidentally, there were a few cards that, when added to his Infernal deck, could play an unexpected role.

However, to unleash the power of those cards, a little bit of luck is also needed.

And now... Guiliu has already made his decision when he sees the 20 on the dice.

"You mean, you're here to take away my satisfaction?" Gui Liu suddenly asked.

Octoris looked over with some surprise, and after finding that Guiliu's face did not show any particular expression, she nodded slightly.

"A complacent person will only stagnate, so you should lose to me and then thank me."

"grateful?"

"Thank you for freeing you from your stagnation and allowing you to start moving forward again."

"Heh...how interesting."

Not knowing how to respond to such a question that defies common sense, Gui Liu laughed, a laugh that seemed somewhat incomprehensible.

"Satiation can indeed make people stop, but stopping doesn't mean stopping progress."

A strange look flashed in Guiliu's eyes; he had lost all interest in chatting with Octoris.

Talking about philosophy with a riddle-solving person who seems a bit off... I really don't know if the other person is stupid, or if I am.

"My turn!"

"You can activate this effect by discarding 1 other Fairy-Type EARTH monster from your hand if you have [Keldor the Deity] in your hand! Special Summon this card from your hand!"

"After that, add 1 copy of 'Reversal of the Realm and the Underworld' or any card with that name from your deck to your hand."

"I discard the [Ancient Guardian Argento] in my hand! And I search for [Sword Priest Mudora]!"

Bizarre-shaped statues descended upon the battlefield, and an inexplicable aura enveloped the street.

[Earth · 4★ · Angel · Defense 1600]

“Aren’t you using the Infernal Flame deck?” Octoris asked in surprise once again.

She recognized the cards, or rather, she and her colleagues all recognized this batch of cards.

In a sense, this batch of cards was specially printed for them by their "boss," emphasizing simplicity and power, the kind that even a grandmother could play with.

However, she and her colleagues were all quite individualistic, and only about half of them followed their boss's instructions to use these specially supplied cards; the rest went to find their own favorite decks to use.

She herself is one of them.

However, this did not prevent her from knowing how terrifying these cards were.

“It seems you recognize these cards.” Gui Liu noticed Octoris’s expression and had some guesses about what was going on.

Regardless of the dimension or time, new spirits and their corresponding cards will continuously appear. However, the appearance of these cards is always gradual, and it is rare for a large number of them to suddenly appear all at once.

After returning to the town, Gui Liu's informant mentioned to him that a lot of cards he had never seen before had suddenly appeared on the market recently. He took note of this and had his men collect some to study.

However, it now seems that the appearance of these cards is not an ordinary accident.

"Since you recognize these cards, we can skip the unnecessary chatter."

"As for the Infernal Flame deck you mentioned... don't worry, you'll see it soon."

The somber feeling brought on by the Dark Duel unconsciously reminded Kiryu of his past experience of being controlled by the Earthbound God, making him, who had already returned to normal, seem somewhat abnormal again—specifically, he was showing signs of returning to his former self as a "satisfied person" and a "fun person."

"The effect of Ancient Guardian of the Graveyard: Add 5 more cards to both players' decks!"

The opponent didn't activate any cards like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, so the effect went through smoothly. Taking this opportunity, Kiryu glanced at the cards that Octoria had been pushed down, and almost had his heart stop beating.

[Mass Arrest] [Psychological Manipulation] [Grey Basket Alligator] [Forced Transfer] [Foreign Object]

At first glance, there wasn't a single card that looked normal.

Connecting this to Octoris's earlier statement about "taking away" his satisfaction, Kiryu vaguely understood what kind of person the other side really was.

"Because the cards I just added to the deck still have the effect of the Ancient Guardian, I can activate the follow-up effect of the Ancient Guardian and add 5 more cards."

Holding the Sword Priest he had retrieved, Gui Liu felt he could take advantage of the situation.

Moreover, he was quite lucky today. After another graveyard buildup, there were no difficult-to-deal-with items in the graveyard, and he was able to build up the cards he wanted.

"The effect of [Tearful Lament Siren Mermaid] in the Graveyard allows me to return her and another monster from my Graveyard to the Deck as Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon!"

"LV4! [The Mud Dragon King of the Swamp]!"

Although this is Synchro Dimension and the Infernal Flame deck is also a Synchro deck, it's perfectly acceptable to change things up occasionally and use Fusion Summon, right?

"Heh, I'm not in a hurry. I just want to see, after all you've done, where exactly is the Infernal Flame in your Infernal Flame deck?" Octoris crossed her arms, displaying her proud figure while posing a probing question.

However, Kiryu has a very good mental fortitude and doesn't care about Octoris's behavior at all.

The most important skill a duelist should master is to make good use of the combinations between various cards!

"The Eternal Flame you requested is coming soon!"

"I've covered three cards in my hand!"

With a snap, three cards were placed face down in the back row, leaving Gui Liu with only one open card to search for – the Sword God.

If his opponent is a duelist with extensive experience against Infernal decks, he might even ask the referee to check if Kiryu's back row has committed any fouls.

After all, sometimes it's actually a joke—the backcourt of the Invincible Fire player.

"Activate the spell card I just set to the side, [Temptation of Darkness]!"

"Draw 2 cards, then banish 1 DARK monster from your hand. If you have no DARK monsters in your hand..."

Send all your cards to the graveyard!

"At that time... I had fulfilled the most crucial prerequisite for the Infernal Flame deck!"

"My hand will become 0 cards!"

"Whether it's satisfaction or anything else... as long as I have nothing, you can't take anything away from me."

Chapter 40, "Infinite Prison," refers to an indefinite period of imprisonment.

"It seems your luck isn't very good."

As it turns out, in any game that requires luck, there's a high probability of low-probability events happening. The temptation of always hoping to pass cards without being banished, but often ending up with the opposite, is not playing out today.

"I have a DARK monster in my draw... I'll banish one Siren Mermaid."

The Temptation of Darkness does not offer the option to send all cards in your hand to the graveyard without using the effect; after the effect, Oni-Liu still has 2 cards in his hand.