Yu-Gi-Oh!: This isn't a duel!

As the electronic voice announced, a giant holographic scoreboard floated in mid-air, and two sets of bright red data were instantly locked in:

[Lira: LP8000]

[Kissgeller: LP8000]

[Andre Amf: LP8000]

Valentine: LP8000

Immediately afterwards, four enormous dice made of pure data appeared out of thin air and spun rapidly in front of everyone.

With a series of rapid clinking sounds, the dice slowly came to a stop, the crimson numbers indicating who would go first:

Lucien Valentine: 5 points

Andre Anfo: 1 point

Lila & Kisskill: 4 points

"Heh... It seems even Lady Luck favors the elegant."

Looking at the points in front of him, Lucien smiled calmly.

His slender fingers gently rested on the deck, and with fluid movements, he drew five cards from his hand.

On the other side, Lila and Kissgeller grimaced somewhat unhappily, but since that was the rule, they could only accept it helplessly.

The two exchanged a glance and then drew their starting cards with equal efficiency.

Andre Anfo beside him remained silent like a shadow, mechanically completing the card-drawing action, his eyes beneath the mask showing no emotion.

Lucien quickly glanced at his hand, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"A perfect start."

His confidence deepened his smile. He picked up one of the cards and slammed it into the monster zone of the Duel Disk:

"My turn!"

"First, I usually summon my [Time Stalker Standard Hand Watch Dog]!"

"Click, click, click..."

A sharp, precise sound of gears meshing suddenly echoed throughout the venue.

The data stream in front of Lucien began to recombine wildly, and a strangely shaped mechanical creature suddenly appeared.

Its body is made up of countless intricate brass dials and springs, and with each breath it is accompanied by the sound of the second hand ticking, as if it itself is the embodiment of time.

【Time Stalker Standard Hand Watch Dog】【★4】

[Dark/Mechanical Race] [Attack: 600 / Defense: 200]

Looking at the steampunk-style mechanical dog, Kisskill's eyes narrowed, then she clapped her hands as if suddenly realizing something:

"So it's the Time Stalker!"

Her pink eyes gleamed with understanding; all her previous confusion vanished in that instant.

"No wonder we couldn't catch you earlier. That wasn't a spatial jump at all; you set a 'time anchor' for yourself before you even appeared."

"At the moment we launched our attack, you forcibly 'reverted' your physical state to that fixed time period!"

Kisskill clicked her tongue in amazement, a hint of inquiry creeping into her gaze as she looked at Lucien:

"Although this method can only perform micro-manipulation on a very small scale, it is astonishing that a mortal can so skillfully wield this elven power that involves the laws of time..."

"I must say, you're quite capable, you thief who stole our names."

Upon hearing his opponent pinpoint the core of his deck and the trick he had just performed, Lucien could only offer a helpless, bitter smile.

"So, in front of true elves, human tricks are completely transparent?"

He sighed inwardly. Once a monster is summoned, its unique power fluctuations are impossible to hide from these elves.

"However, even if our secrets are exposed, the necessary actions will not stop."

Lucien's eyes sharpened, and he quickly composed himself. He picked up the card he had just drawn from the Duel Disk, placed it in the Graveyard, and shouted:

"Then, I'll activate the effect of [Time Stalker's Standard Watch Dog] on the field!"

"You can activate this effect by Tributing this card if you control no monsters other than this card!"

Special Summon 2 "Time Rogue" monsters from your Deck in Defense Position, except for "Time Rogue Standard Clock Hound"!

"This effect can summon a maximum of 1 card with the same name."

"Go! For a greater timeline!"

"I release them to Special Summon [Time Stalker - Wristwatch Tuner] and [Time Stalker - Time Attendance Machine Butterfly] from my Deck!"

Before the words were finished, the mechanical dog on the field let out a low rumble, and its body instantly disintegrated into countless flying golden gears and data fragments.

Amidst the scattered light fragments, two entirely new figures slowly emerged.

On the left, a girl in a white research uniform walks through the void.

She had long, flowing golden hair, adorned with a cute pink bow, and held a peculiar pocket watch in her hand, exuding an air of intellect and mystery.

[Time Stalker - Watch Adjuster] [★4]

[Dark/Psychic Race] [Attack: 1200 / Defense: 1800]

To her right, accompanied by the hum of an engine, a finely crafted mechanical butterfly with wings shimmering with dazzling holographic light fluttered out, tracing graceful streaks of time in the air.

[Time Stalker - Attendance Machine Butterfly] [★4]

[Dark/Mechanical Race] [Attack: 1000 / Defense: 1000]

"At this very moment!"

"The appearance effect of [Time Stalker - Watch Tuner] is activated!"

"If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can activate this effect. Send 1 'Time Stalker' card from your Deck to the Graveyard, except 'Time Stalker: Watch Tuner'."

Chapter 239 In this frozen moment, steal the key to the future! Time Thief!

"In the torrent of time, only I can anchor the right course."

Lucien Valentine's long fingers traced the deck, and the moment his fingertips touched that card, it was as if he had set the gears of fate in motion:

"I choose to send [Time Stalker - Round Top Submarine] to the graveyard from my deck!"

As the card was precisely placed into the graveyard slot, Valentine's eyes suddenly shone with a dazzling golden light, a coldness and majesty that had long surpassed human emotion and absolute rationality.

Immediately afterwards, her signature honey-gold hair lost its original color in an instant, turning into a pale silver that represented the end of time!

"Om-"

A massive golden vortex suddenly lit up behind him; it was the eye of a storm formed by countless interwoven timelines.

Valentine swung his right hand sharply, and the golden traces of law remaining between his fingers instantly erupted, spreading outwards in tangible ripples.

At this moment, the entire neon-lit cyberspace seemed to be slowed down.

The previously noisy electronic whirring and the buzzing of data flow all fell silent, leaving only the clear, precise, and frantic turning of the mechanical dial, like a heartbeat, resounding in everyone's ears.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock..."

In this suffocating sense of oppression, Valentine's voice sounds exceptionally ethereal and grand.

"In the rift between the past and the future, all the treasures belong to the nameless thief."

He pressed his two fingers together into the air and pressed down hard, as if issuing a decree from a king!

"Next, I will stack the Level 4 [Time Stalker - Wristwatch Adjuster] and [Time Stalker - Time Attendance Machine] on the field!"

The two monsters instantly transformed into two streams of light, one purple and one gold, spiraling upwards before finally plunging into the golden vortex.

"Build—a hypersaturated network!"

"In this frozen moment, let's steal the key to the future!"

"Xyz Summon! Show Time! Appear—[Time Stalker, Clockwork Restorer]!!"

"Zizi-"

A burst of light erupted, and space trembled. Amidst the dazzling data dust, a tall, slender figure clad in a deep purple high-tech trench coat quietly emerged.

He wore tactical goggles, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood.

What's most chilling is that several huge, semi-transparent virtual gears float around him, and these gears are not bound by gravity, but slowly rotate in the opposite direction.

He wasn't grounded in reality, but rather treading upon countless overlapping afterimages of time.

Every few seconds, his figure would flicker with a "zzzz" sound, like a signal malfunction on an old videotape.

That sense of unreality gives one the illusion that although he is standing right in front of you, he has never truly existed in this time and space.

[Time Stalker - Watch Dial Restorer] [Tier 4]

[Dark/Psychic/Xyz/Effect] [ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2000]

"It's not over yet; the cycle of time has only just begun."

Lucien gave his opponent no chance to breathe, pointing sharply to the cemetery:

"Next, I activate the effect of [Time Stalker - Bezel Submarine] in the graveyard!"

"If this card is in the Graveyard, you can activate this effect by detaching 1 Xyz Material from your field."

"Special Summon this card! But banish it when it leaves the field."

"As a price—I've removed an excess of material from [Time Stalker - Dial Restorer]—[Time Stalker - Watch Adjuster]!"

One of the two orbs of light surrounding the dial restorer shattered instantly, turning into pure energy that flowed into the ground.

"Rise to the surface! Ghost that traverses the river of time—[Time Stalker: Watch Bezel Submarine]!"

The cemetery area suddenly burst forth with a ghostly blue light, and a huge mechanical clock hand burst from the ground, followed by a strange submarine composed of intricate mechanical discs, hovering beside Lucien with an oppressive aura like that of the deep sea.

[Time Stalker - Bezel Submarine] [★4]

[Dark/Mechanical Race] [Attack: 0 / Defense: 2000]

Watching the fluid, smooth unfolding of the duel opposite her, and the dazzling time effects, Kisskill puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, her grip on the duel disk cracking loudly, clearly annoyed.