# Chapter 686: Hayato Kobayashi and Friday
Compared to the tense and exciting parachuting process, the step of waiting to land after pulling the parachute was relatively calm and steady. After all, flying from a low place to a high place is difficult, but descending from a high place to a low place is much easier.
Especially the biggest problem with high-altitude parachuting—the turbulent airflow that causes the parachute to deviate from the intended landing spot—was resolved by the spirits around everyone in various ways. For example, Marik came up with the ingenious "Lava Golem Flame Propulsion," which is self-explanatory.
After a long while, as their altitude decreased, Hayato's feet were already over a lush grassland. He landed on the ground, buffered his landing by running dozens of steps forward, and successfully landed on the Island. Yugi and the others also successfully landed right after him.
But then, Hayato suddenly noticed that the five flight attendants who had jumped out of the Airplane with them earlier were not acting together with them. Instead, they had intentionally changed their gliding path by adjusting the parachute's airflow, flying towards the other side of the Island.
"Hey! You're going the wrong way, we're over here!" Joey was a little confused watching the five flight attendants fly towards the other half of the Island, but he still raised his head and shouted loudly into the air.
Just now, while gliding in the air, he had also overlooked the general appearance of the Island. Although Joey couldn't see very clearly due to the thin mist covering the Island and the dense vegetation on it, he could confirm that there seemed to be no sign of human existence on the Island.
This meant that it was unlikely the five flight attendants were changing direction to seek help because they saw the existence of Human Civilization.
Although Joey didn't understand, Tristan was the first to react to their idea. He patted Joey's shoulder: "Alright, Joey, save your strength. The Subordinates simply don't want to stay with us."
"Huh?" Joey was also stunned upon hearing this. "Why? The Airplane crashed, shouldn't we survivors stick together and help each other out? Group action would be safer, right? As long as we wait for rescue—"
"It is indeed safer, after all, with multiple people acting together, at least you can look out for each other. But don't forget, for the same gains, if there are more people, the resources allocated per person will be less," Hayato said without raising his head, still fiddling with his Duel Disk.
"Ultimately, because we are Pegasus's guests and they are Pegasus's Subordinates, this solid barrier between ranks is also one of the reasons why the Subordinates don't want to act with us," Marik said with a sneer, a contemptuous expression on his face. "Are they afraid that we big shots plan to continue sitting back and enjoying the fruits of their labor, so they plan to stay as far away from us as possible?"
"Um, I've been looking at my mobile phone since just now," Because of Yugi's voice, Joey turned to look at him, only to find a helpless expression on Yugi's face. "Probably because this place is too remote, there's absolutely no signal on my phone. We probably can't even send out a distress signal. We can only call for help if a passing ship comes by."
"In that case, doesn't that mean we can only be saved by luck?" Téa said with a worried look upon hearing this. "If no ship passes by this area, won't we be unable to return to Human Society for decades, just like Robinson in *Robinson Crusoe*?!"
"There's such a good thing? If we're Robinson, where do we pick up Friday?" Hayato finally raised his head upon hearing this, but casually made a joke. "Relax, relax, let me see where it was. Ah, found it."
As he spoke, Hayato actually took a thin, square item from his Duel Disk. It looked like a remote control based on its size.
"What is this?"
Seeing Yugi's curiosity, Hayato said proudly, "This is a small item I specifically asked Keipei to install in my Duel Disk. It's specially prepared for situations like this. As long as there's a satellite in the sky, it can transmit location information anytime, anywhere."
"I've already used this thing to send a distress signal directly to KaibaCorp Headquarters. Although I don't have a receiving device and don't know if Keipei has received the message, they can't possibly be unaware of an airplane crash like this. They'll quickly notice the distress signal and location information I sent."
"Speaking of which, it's all because you suddenly disappeared last time, Brother-in-law, making everyone think you were dead," Marik said, looking at Hayato. "Since we've sent the signal, we just need to ensure our own safety until rescue arrives. I was planning to come here for a vacation, but unexpectedly it turned into Wilderness Survival."
Although they called it Wilderness Survival, their current situation was actually much better than the situation in that "food program." After all, they only needed to "survive" and not "challenge" the Wilderness. They didn't need to cross long distances; they only needed to ensure drinking water, food intake, and safe residence. It shouldn't take too long.
Before escaping the Airplane by parachute, Hayato had already considered the situation they would face at this moment and specifically had everyone carry supplies below the weight limit when distributing the parachute packs. This further reduced the difficulty of their survival. The Subordinates who also carried supplies probably chose to leave because they didn't want Hayato and the others to share their food and drink.
Although Hayato and the others' luggage was placed in the Cargo Hold before departure, because there was a Passage to the Cargo Hold in the Rear Half of the Cabin, they also brought their respective important items in order to retrieve the parachute packs, which were also in the Cargo Hold.
Among these, the backpack Marik carried was the most important.
"I'm suddenly a little grateful for this pile of messy things Rishid stuffed into my backpack," Marik said sincerely, taking out anti-inflammatory medicine, hemostatic bandages, compressed food, a portable tent, and other important supplies that usually seemed useless but appeared incredibly precious at this moment.
Because of Hayato's prior instructions, everyone else's packages also specifically carried supplies consisting mostly of drinking water and food. Even Téa had replaced the contents of her package with the medical kit that hadn't been used up on the Airplane, so there was no situation like in some novels where people stranded in the Wilderness brought a large amount of cosmetics and change of clothes.
After all, although Téa was indeed well-endowed, she wasn't brainless. She knew how to distinguish between important and urgent matters. Actually, her grades were those of a top student that Joey and Tristan, those two academic failures, couldn't even match combined. Sometimes, when test results came out, her score could even be ten or even nine times Joey's.
After tallying everyone's current supplies, Hayato calculated that, based on the normal food intake required to maintain stamina, even without obtaining additional food on the Island, they could persist for at least five days. However, just in case, they could also obtain food that wasn't too difficult to find, such as coconuts or wild rabbits, to further extend their survival time.
Drinking water was even simpler. Although water resources weren't abundant at the moment, for them, a group of Duelists who didn't lack supernatural power, the difficulty of distilling seawater using plastic bottles to obtain purified water wasn't very high.
However, the issue of residence needed to be resolved. After all, currently, the only available shelter was a small tent carried by Marik that could accommodate a maximum of three people, but there were six of them. They needed to find a place on this Island that could provide shelter from rain before it rained.
But just as Hayato and Yugi were discussing which direction to go to find a Shelter, suddenly, both of them simultaneously felt a strange power.
"!"
Marik and Joey's reactions were slightly slower than Hayato and Yugi's, but almost immediately after Hayato and Yugi simultaneously looked in one direction, they also sensed a power sweep over all of them like a radar.
"What was that?" Joey looked at Yugi, asking, as Yugi and Hayato seemed to have noticed the anomaly earlier than he did. But after Yugi, who had been looking towards the Jungle, withdrew his line of sight, he just shook his head with a helpless expression.
"I'm not too sure. That power just now was very strange. It wasn't like the other dark powers I've felt before," Yugi didn't know how to describe the strange existence he felt, his face showing a conflicted expression. He pointed a finger at the Millennium Puzzle on his chest. "But, The Other Yugi said that even if that power isn't a dark power, it's absolutely not unrelated."
"Even The Other Yugi says that?" Joey also nodded. "I have a similar feeling. Although it doesn't have the sense of oppression from the Dark Games I've experienced before, I just feel uncomfortable."
"It's like someone is holding an ice pick to stab into your butt, and even though they haven't stabbed yet, you're already trembling from the cold feeling."
"What kind of weird analogy is that? Although it's surprisingly apt," Marik ranted, turning his head to look at Tristan and Téa. "Do you guys feel anything uncomfortable?"
"Huh? Doesn't seem like it?" Tristan saw that Hayato and the other three all had expressions indicating they felt something, but he just looked himself up and down, confirming everything was normal before saying, "Aside from Joey the idiot suddenly jumping up and startling me just now, causing my heart to beat a little fast, I don't feel anything."
"I'm the same," Téa also said she felt completely normal, looking at Yugi. "Seems like, only you guys, Yugi, can feel that special thing. Is it because you're Duelists?"
Joey shook his head: "There's no standard for being a Duelist. If you count it, Téa and Tristan can also be considered Duelists."
As he spoke, Joey turned to look at Hayato, Yugi, and Marik, examining them from head to toe, and noticed something different: "Right, Yugi, Hayato, and Marik, you all have Millennium Items on you. Could that power be coming from a Millennium Item?"
"Like the Millennium Key or Millennium Scale that we haven't seen yet?"
Joey also knew about the existence of the Millennium Items and how they might be greatly related to The Other Yugi regaining his memory. As someone who always kept his friend's wish in his heart, he immediately associated it with the Millennium Key and Millennium Scale he hadn't seen yet.
That an academic failure who couldn't even remember knowledge from textbooks could remember such strange terms that he had only heard from Ishizu once shows how much Joey cared about this matter.
But Marik shook his head, rejecting Joey's conjecture: "Unfortunately, the Millennium Key and Millennium Scale, like the Millennium Rod and Millennium Necklace, are Millennium Items guarded by the Tomb Keepers. However, it's not the Ishtar Family that my Older Sister belongs to, but another branch of the Tomb Keepers. There's no possibility of them being lost in a place like this."
"Furthermore, this power is completely different from the power of the Millennium Items. At least it's not that dark."
As he spoke, Marik also pointed at Joey and joked, "More importantly, you, who can also feel that power, don't have a Millennium Item on you. Or are you saying you think you're actually a Millennium Dice or some other item?"
"In that case, wouldn't Grandpa Solomon be the Millennium Hostage?" Hayato also laughed and chimed in, while speaking, he took out a card from his person. "The reason we can feel that power is probably because of them."
After Hayato took out the card, the Ojama Three Brothers, monsters that the few of them were quite familiar with, appeared beside Hayato. Moreover, they were in a materialized state that even Tristan and Téa could see directly.
Through the power of spirits with a higher awakening level, or with the blessing of items like the Millennium Items, card spirits, which can generally only be seen by a very small number of people with the ability to see spirits, known as "Duel Spirit Users," can materialize and appear like they do during a duel, visible to ordinary people. This operation was something they had long grown accustomed to.
But upon closer inspection, Yugi was the first to discover the difference: "Hmm? Could this be?"
Yugi, not entirely sure of his conjecture, took out a golden box. Before Marik could rant about why he carried such a heavy box to hold his Deck, Yugi took out a card from it.
Immediately, the figure of Mystical Elf, a monster that often appeared in the Deck but was usually just cannon fodder, appeared before Yugi. At first, Mystical Elf thought it was in a duel, drawing its sword lazily and holding it weakly, as if having seen through its destiny as mere cannon fodder and starting to give up.
But the next moment, Mystical Elf noticed something was wrong. It examined its materialized body up and down with a slight astonishment, looking puzzled.
"This sign is... card spirit materialization?" Joey and Marik couldn't help but widen their eyes, looking at Mystical Elf before Yugi. Hayato's Ojama Brothers had appeared quite a number of times, so they didn't pay too much attention, but they knew about Yugi's Mystical Elf. Although it had a spirit, it was far from being able to materialize and manifest.
However, on the other hand, the Millennium Puzzle on Yugi's chest wasn't glowing, indicating that Yugi wasn't providing additional power support. A card spirit that originally wasn't at the level of materialization had materialized and appeared. Immediately, the two recalled having seen a similar phenomenon once before.
"If I remember correctly, there was a similar sign during the KC Cup. We've unexpectedly found something interesting, Yugi," Hayato turned his head to look towards the Jungle, his gaze seemingly wanting to penetrate all obstructions to look towards the Center of the Island and find the source of that power. "Alright, let's go, Friday!"
"There's no such thing!"
Chapter 687: Let's Play a Round of... Duel Monsters!
At this moment, Hayato and the others faced two needs: first, finding a Shelter, and second, confirming the true nature of that mysterious power. One represented the immediate safety issue, while the other represented an inevitable hidden danger they would face in the future. Neither could be abandoned.
However, compared to the source of that mysterious power, which they didn't even know the location of, finding a Shelter to rest and recuperate was everyone's current first choice. It was already afternoon, and Hayato and the others hadn't eaten anything since breakfast before gathering at Yugi's Kame Game Shop that morning. Someone with a particularly large appetite like Joey Wheeler was already so hungry his stomach was touching his back.
And in the Wilderness, for ordinary people like Hayato and the others who didn't have much wilderness survival experience, building things like treehouses was too difficult. It was far less practical than finding a Cave of suitable height to make do for a few days. And so, Tristan and Marik walked at the very front, clearing the way, as Hayato and their group traveled through the dense Primeval Jungle, advancing towards the High Mountain in the Center of the Island they had seen before.
Although it was uncertain whether a suitable Cave or similar place could be found near that High Mountain, which was smoking and seemed like a Volcano, to serve as a Shelter, at least it could serve as a vantage point for Hayato and the others to observe the entire Island's environment.
However, this worry seemed unnecessary. Not long after entering the Jungle, in less than half an hour, due to an unexpected development, Hayato and the others changed their plan to first search for a Shelter.
"Euaaaaaaah---!!!"
A sharp female voice rang out in the distance, causing Tristan, who was walking at the very front, to involuntarily stop. The entrenching tool in his hand, which he was about to swing to cut away the troublesome tree branch—regardless of what Rishid thought, Marik had indeed pulled out an entrenching tool from his backpack, and honestly, an entrenching tool sharpened on one side was quite efficient at cutting tree branches—also hung in the air without falling.
"That voice, is it those people from before?"
Marik, standing beside Tristan, also stopped his hand, wiped the slightly seeping sweat from his forehead, recalled for a moment, pointed in a direction and said, "It seemed like it. I didn't pay much attention to their voices, but on This Island, it seemed there were only our two groups of humans. The voice seemed to come from that direction?"
"Screaming so miserably, they probably encountered beasts on the Island, right?" Joey Wheeler made a fierce expression with dark humor, making a scary face at Tristan and said, "Uwah, I am the King of Beasts on this Deserted Island, let me get you!"
"Get lost, if you have that much energy, it's your turn to clear the way." Tristan gave Joey Wheeler a glare, completely ignoring his face art that wouldn't scare anyone but would only make people laugh, and extended his hand and handed him the entrenching tool. Clearing the way for this long, even Tristan was a bit tired.
The Forest on the Island was a bit excessively lush. Generally speaking, even in remote deep mountains and old forests where few people go, there should be some "animal trails" left by the accumulated activity of beasts. However, as the group walked this path, they could only see the excessively lush Jungle and didn't even find a single small path.
Furthermore, up until now, the sole animal they had seen was a flying bird they saw flying over the Forest from the Seaside Grassland where they landed.
Hayato also took the entrenching tool from Marik's hand and told him to rest at the back of the group. However, he wasn't in a hurry to continue clearing the way towards the Mountain Range, but like Joey Wheeler, who had taken over from Tristan, he temporarily stopped, turned back to look at Yugi and said, "Should we keep going, Yugi?"
Hearing this, Yugi did not answer Hayato immediately, but pondered for a moment before firmly saying, "Although they gave up on us, I think we still can't just leave them be. Knowing that they seemed to be in danger but acting as if we didn't know and leaving directly, I think that's wrong."
"Sorry, Hayato, I want to go over there first."
Hayato, with the entrenching tool on his shoulder, smiled and said, "There's nothing to be sorry about, Yugi. You weren't thinking of going there by yourself, were you? That won't do. We're a team, we have to act together."
While speaking, Hayato walked a few steps towards the direction the voice came from before, with one hand pulling aside the branches and leaves that grew as if overly nourished, and the entrenching tool in his other hand swung out, cutting off the tree branch. "Even if we go find a suitable Shelter now, if we haven't eliminated the surrounding danger, our situation won't be considered safe. Before something happens to those people, let's hurry and go over there to see what kind of danger is on the Island!"
Joey Wheeler had no objection to Hayato and Yugi's decision. Hearing that both intended to check the situation in the direction the voice came from, he immediately acted, following behind Hayato, carrying the entrenching tool and joining the ranks of those clearing the way.
Because they were pressed for time, Hayato and Joey Wheeler did not conserve stamina but chose the fastest way to clear the way and advance, even though it was less efficient. Yugi and the others followed closely behind. The group of six rapidly advanced towards the direction the shouting came from. In less than ten minutes, they had surprisingly successfully passed through the dense Jungle, arriving at a Forest Clearing.
Stepping out from the overwhelming green plants and seeing the yellow Muddy Ground not covered by green plants, Joey Wheeler relaxed his eyes, which were starting to see everything as green, and looked around.
Although the plants in the Forest grew so lushly, leaving no gap, upon reaching this Open Space, the plants seemed to recoil, as if wary, not daring to approach another step, thus leaving this Open Space.
However, while called an Open Space, it wasn't truly empty. The sharp-eyed Hayato, as soon as he walked out of the Forest, saw several unused parachute packs scattered in the central area of the Open Space.
Hayato and the others did not land at this spot, so naturally, these were the parachute packs left by the five flight attendants who had acted separately from Hayato's group, and the quantity of parachute packs was indeed five.
However, Hayato didn't know what those flight attendants were thinking. Although in movies and TV shows, there's often the depiction of opening the backpack and discarding the parachute immediately after use, but now they were in wilderness survival. How could those people not think of packing up such a good thing as a parachute and just leave it here?
Parachute cloth is not only waterproof but also has high strength; it can be used to make tents, waterproof cloth, or even raincoats. Parachute rope also has many uses.
"Huh? They're not here?" Joey Wheeler looked left and right, couldn't find even a single human figure besides themselves, guessing perhaps because of the time it took them to walk over, the five people who were suspected of being attacked had already left here.
Téa casually removed the broken tree branch stuck in her hair from walking too fast, tightened her backpack, and said, "We came up empty, sigh, that was a wasted trip."
In order to get here as quickly as possible, they had been advancing at full speed the entire way. Their already limited stamina was heavily consumed again, causing everyone to feel a bit discouraged upon seeing the Open Space with no human figures. And as soon as they felt discouraged, fatigue and hunger surged up.
It was already around two or three in the afternoon, and they hadn't eaten lunch until now. They also lost the idea of continuing to advance and search for a Shelter and simply chose to camp on the spot and spend the night first. Although a safe Shelter is very important, maintaining a good mental state and sufficient stamina is also crucial in the Wilderness.
Although there was only one tent, but because they had parachutes and a large quantity of tree branches in the surrounding Forest that could be used as material for processing, the group planned to build a slightly larger tent on the spot for the boys to rest, while the original tent would be used by Téa.
The tent didn't need to be too big; it only needed to accommodate three people, because not everyone could sleep at night, one or two people had to stay awake to keep watch.
After simply eating some bread and biscuits to fill their stomachs, while everyone was discussing their respective divisions of labor, uninvited guests intruded into the Open Space.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by the ground's sudden violent tremble, a loud sound entered everyone's ears, scaring Joey Wheeler, who had his back to the sound source, so much that he directly jumped up from a large rock. The others weren't much better off, all looking towards the direction the loud sound came from.
Only to see in the smoke, a hunched Black-Robed Figure completely covered by a black robe slowly walked out. Beneath the cloak, roughly where the eyes would be, red radiance emitted, seeming like they were sizing up Hayato and his group.
And behind the Black-Robed Figure, another giant humanoid monster revealed its figure. Muscles bulged beneath its eerie blue skin, and its entire body was covered in wildly growing pitch-black hair. In the giant's hand, it dragged a thick tree; the trunk was twisted by brute force, and one end was broken as if hit by immense force. It was very clear it was the culprit behind the large commotion just now.
Yugi and the others were vigilant towards the suddenly appearing Black-Robed Figure with a quite dangerous aura, and the beast-like giant. They did not act rashly. Meanwhile, the Black-Robed Figure, after sizing up Hayato and the others for a long time, let out a cold laugh: "Hehehe, six more good experiment subjects, and judging by their appearance, it seemed there were some high-quality ones among them."
"At this key point where I've hit a bottleneck, to collect two waves of experiment subjects consecutively, I'm truly too lucky." While speaking, the hunched Black-Robed Figure raised their hand and pointed in the direction of Hayato and the others. "For my dream, embrace glorious evolution, my experiment subjects!"
"Grab them for me!"
As the Black-Robed Figure gave the order, the giant savage behind "him" let out a low roar, casually threw the section of tree trunk in its hand aside, opened its now empty hand, and grabbed towards Hayato and the others like an opened fishing net!
"You idiot, be careful for me, don't just crush the experiment subjects like the previous ones, they are much more important than you!" Behind the giant savage, the Black-Robed Figure was still expressing "his" "concern" for the safety of Hayato and the others.
However, clearly, "his" worry seemed a bit unnecessary. The next instant the giant savage reached out its hand towards Hayato and the others, a spiral lance and an emerald green wand filled with mystical power were pressed against its palm. In pain, the giant savage let out a cry of "Ow!" and withdrew its palm, only to find a stream of pitch-black flames spat out from a flying dragon's mouth, hitting its undefended face.
"Whoosh!"
The scene of the giant savage being knocked down, which Hayato and the others had anticipated, did not appear. After being hit by the black flame bullet spat out by Joey Wheeler's materialized Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the giant savage's seemingly sturdy muscles had no DEF, as if made of paper mache. In an instant, the giant savage was taken down, but its body did not remain; instead, it shattered and disappeared.
That kind of special effect, the few people present could be said to be extremely familiar with it. That was clearly the special effect that appears when Duel Monsters, after being turned into three-dimensional footage via the virtual projection system, are destroyed.
"Saying unaccountably strange things like 'experiment subject', who are you and why did you suddenly attack us!" After jointly defeating the giant savage, which seemed to be the Black-Robed Figure's subordinate, Joey Wheeler stepped forward angry, questioning the opponent.
"As expected, was that a card spirit?" The key point he cared about was different from Joey Wheeler's. Dark Yugi, who had emerged from the Millennium Puzzle at some unknown time to substitute for Yugi Mutou, raised an eyebrow because of the phenomenon he observed; the confusion between his brows did not fade. "But if it was a card spirit, even if temporarily repelled, why would it show characteristics only seen in Duel Monsters?"
The Black-Robed Figure seemed a bit surprised by the power displayed by Hayato, Yugi, and Joey Wheeler, but quickly recovered, looked at the few people and said, "What an accident, to think they are high-grade experiment subjects capable of using spirit power."
"I'm truly too lucky, the data about duel spirit users in my experiment log is very lacking!"
While speaking, Hayato and the others saw behind the Black-Robed Figure, the mist they had seen before when overlooking the Island from high altitude emerged. And within the mist, one strange figure after another appeared, as if they were about to leap out from the dense mist the next instant!
Originally, upon seeing that huge savage, Hayato felt its appearance was quite familiar to him, but because of the gap between anime/manga card art and three-dimensional monsters, he wasn't entirely sure. But upon seeing the several phantoms behind the Black-Robed Figure, he confirmed his conjecture.
Before the Black-Robed Figure could perform the next round of attack, Hayato quickly finished adjusting his Deck, inserted it into the card slot of his Duel Disk and performed a field setup, stepped forward, and shouted loudly at the Black-Robed Figure, "Hey, you over there, duel me!"
Hayato's words, even if it were in any other world, others would probably only answer with a gaze like looking at an idiot, and their hand movements wouldn't pause for even a bit. However, only in a certain "sorceress pile driver" world and This World, would the situation be different---
Hearing Hayato's words, the Black-Robed Figure was stunned for a moment, then put down the hand they had raised, and said with confidence, "Hehehe, you dare challenge me? Overestimating yourself, no one is my opponent!"
While speaking, the mist behind the Black-Robed Figure wrapped around the thin arm extending from his robe, transforming into a Duel Disk that was already loaded with a Deck.
---Well, the World of Duelists is like this~
(End of Chapter)
# Chapter 688: Amazing, Right? Incredible, Right? A Genius, Right!
"I'll take the First Turn! Draw!"
Regarding the sudden turn of events where Hayato and the Black-Robed Figure naturally accepted the challenge to Duel, before Hayato could even shout "Duel" as an opening and draw his Hand, the Black-Robed Figure opposite him shamelessly drew six Cards in one go, snatching the First Turn in a rather unfair manner.
Not paying much attention to Hayato's glare, the Black-Robed Figure's gaunt fingers clutched the six Cards, fanning them out before his eyes. He seemed to have drawn good Cards for his Opening Hand, and his voice sounded somewhat pleased: "My name is Diabolo. Intruding upon this Island is the greatest fortune of your lives, because next, you will witness my masterpiece and even become a part of it."
"My name is Diabolo. Remember this great name, destined to spread throughout the World!"
[Diabolo: 4000 LP, Hand 6]
Despite the sudden Duel between Hayato and the guy calling himself Diabolo, no one was surprised why they were Dueling. After retreating a certain distance to leave enough Space for Hayato and Diabolo's Duel, Joey Wheeler scoffed upon hearing Diabolo's words: "What's the point of remembering a name that sounds so moldy?"
"Diabolo, 'Diavolo', that name means 'Fiend' in Italian, right? Why would anyone name their child that?" Although he hadn't even attended school, Marik surprisingly knew a bit more than Joey Wheeler. "That name, it's a fake name, right?"
While Joey Wheeler and the others focused on whether Diabolo's name was his true name, Yugi was concerned about something else. He conversed in his heart with Yugi Mutou inside the Millennium Puzzle: 'Aibo, do you feel the same way?'
'Are you talking about the aura of power on Diabolo, The Other Me?' Yugi Mutou inside the Millennium Puzzle also had the ability to perceive the Outside World. The moment Diabolo took out his Duel Disk, he realized that the aura on Diabolo felt the same as the power that had swept over them earlier. 'Yes, I also feel he's the source of that power.'
'Perhaps, even the materialization of Card Spirits is related to him.'
"First, I will Activate this Spell Card from my Hand, Card Destruction," Diabolo didn't know and wouldn't care about Yugi and the others' communication. He inserted a Card into the Spell & Trap Zone of his Duel Disk, speaking to himself, "Both Duelists with Hands discard all Cards from their Hand, then each Draw Cards from the Top of Deck equal to the number discarded."
Paused, Diabolo gathered the five Cards he had fanned out in his Hand and said proudly, "Although I don't know the condition of your Cards, you don't need to thank me for substituting them with better ones."
Honda, who was watching the Duel, found it strange. Even as a novice who had just started Duel Monsters, he could at least tell that Diabolo seemed quite satisfied with his Hand when he drew his Cards just now. But why would he use Card Destruction, a Card used to substitute unfavorable Hands?
Marik also noticed Tristan's confused look and muttered to himself, "He was so confident in his Hand just now, yet he used a Card like Card Destruction. If that confidence wasn't faked, then the only possibility is that 'discarded Cards have effects in the Graveyard'."
Hearing this, Diabolo, who was sending the five Cards gathered in his Hand to the Graveyard, glanced at Marik: "Heh heh, what if you know? This is my First Turn. Is there any possibility you can stop my Cards?"
"Because of Card Destruction's Effect, I discard all five Cards from my Hand, then Draw five Cards from my Deck."
Hayato seemed to have no way to stop him, just as Diabolo said, and also Sent the five Cards in his Hand to the Graveyard: "My Hand also had five Cards, so I can also Draw five Cards."
Both Players simultaneously Sent their Cards to the Graveyard and Drew five Cards each. Hayato was quite satisfied with his newly Drawn five Cards; his luck wasn't too bad. However, Diabolo stared at his newly Drawn five Cards for a while, as if in astonishment at how bad the Cards he Drew were.
But it didn't matter. Diabolo's Goal from the start wasn't to Draw better Cards, but merely to "discard" his previous Hand.
"At this instant, a Card in my Graveyard can Activate its Effect!" He forcefully swung his dry palm, making one wonder if his arm, like a withered tree branch, would break from the effort, but Diabolo's tone was quite excited, "When discarded from the Hand, Danger!? Tsuchinoko?, Danger! Mothman!, and Danger!? Jackalope?, which I Sent to Graveyard, Activate their Effects!"
"First is Danger!? Jackalope?'s Effect. From my Deck, Special Summon one Danger! Monster other than Danger!? Jackalope? in Defense Position!"
"Danger!?" Yugi was also stunned by Diabolo's words. Even he, whose family owned a Card Shop and could be said to know everything about Duel Monsters information, had never heard of Danger! Cards. Could it be Cards granted to Diabolo by beings from the Spirit World?
However, since he had never heard of the Danger! Deck, why did the Monster names feel somewhat familiar?
Following Diabolo's declaration, a rabbit with green fur appeared from his Graveyard. If it were just green fur, that would be one thing, but on top of that rabbit's head were branched antlers like tree branches?
Although its appearance was cute, the change that happened to Danger!? Jackalope? the next moment could only be described as disgusting. Suddenly, Danger!? Jackalope?'s muscles rapidly swelled, tearing through its green fur and revealing bright red flesh. Amidst the twisted deformation, Diabolo's voice rang out:
"Experimental Model Gigantification, Volume change, Action pattern change, Rumor granting! Pitch-Black Demonic Serpent, leap from the lake!"
"Danger! Ogopogo!"
As Diabolo's words fell, the deformation of Danger!? Jackalope? was complete. What appeared before everyone was a hideous, giant Monster Snake. Its flat, spiky skull made it impossible to associate it with the cute Danger!? Jackalope? from before.
Danger! Ogopogo!
[Sea Serpent-Type/Effect]
[1200/3000]
"Eek! What is that monster!?" Joey Wheeler, who was watching the Field intently, was disgusted by the process of Danger!? Jackalope? turning into Danger! Ogopogo!. He took half a step back with a look of disgust, constantly rubbing the goosebumps on his arms. "I've never even heard of such a disgusting monster!"
As for Yugi, although he initially only focused on "Danger!" and didn't notice the Monster names, with the four reminders from Danger!? Jackalope?, Danger! Mothman!, Danger!? Tsuchinoko?, and now the appearing Danger! Ogopogo!, he had realized where that subtle familiar feeling came from when he heard the Monster names, even though he hadn't heard of the Danger! Deck.
"North America's 'Jackalope', 'Mothman', Japan's 'Tsuchinoko', and Canada's Ogopogo..." Listing the Monsters whose names had appeared, Yugi, who had switched back to his other personality knowledgeable about these strange things, stood behind Hayato and said loudly, "These Danger! Monsters are Cryptids from around the World!"
Hearing Yugi's words, Diabolo merely gave a cold snort: "Cryptids? Hmph, is that what ignorant humans call my experiment subjects? Although they are just failed experiments used to practice theories, they are not something you idiots can treat casually!"
"Danger!? Tsuchinoko?'s Effect: When this Card is discarded from the Hand, Activate this Card's Special Summon." Taking a Card from the Graveyard and placing it horizontally on his Duel Disk, Diabolo seemed to be in a bad mood because he heard the term "Cryptid", and continued, "Then there's Danger! Mothman!. This Card can only Activate when discarded from the Hand."
"Both Players Draw a Card from their Deck, and after that, select one Card from their Hand and discard it."
A slightly bloated, chubby pink-purple little snake appeared on Diabolo's Field. At the same time, Diabolo and Hayato had each Drawn a Card and selected a Card from their Hand to discard to the Graveyard.
Danger!? Tsuchinoko?
[Reptile-Type/Effect]
[1300/0]
After discarding the Card to the Graveyard, Diabolo waved his Hand again: "The Card discarded by Danger! Mothman!'s Effect is Danger! Chupacabra!. When this Card is discarded from the Hand, select one Danger! Monster from my Graveyard, other than itself, and Special Summon it!"
"Come forth, Danger! Mothman!"
Danger! Mothman!
[Insect Type/Effect]
[1800/400]
In just one Turn, Diabolo easily Special Summoned three Monsters to his Field. At the same time, he even retained his Normal Summon without using it, and throughout this process, he only played one Card Destruction.
However, for Hayato, this operation was still not enough to impress him. From the very beginning of the Duel, he had more or less guessed that the opponent was using a Danger! Deck, and this Deck, as Yugi guessed, was based on the "Cryptids" widely rumored around the World.
The so-called "Cryptids" refer to creatures that have many witnesses providing the same vivid descriptions, yet lack definite key evidence to prove their true existence, such as the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and so on.
Hayato just couldn't figure out how these "Cryptids" got involved with a guy like Diabolo, who seemed like a mad scientist.
"Diabolo, right?" Looking calmly at the two imposing Monsters and one cute Danger!? Tsuchinoko? (which is the Japanese legendary "Tsuchinoko Snake") on the opponent's Field, Hayato asked Diabolo, "You keep talking about 'experiment subjects' and such, what exactly do you mean?"
Hearing that Hayato, after seeing his invincible lineup on the Field, wasn't thinking about how to break through but instead had the leisure to ask him questions, Diabolo was somewhat disdainful: "I originally thought you, who dared to challenge me, might be someone amazing. Can't you see how powerful the Monsters on my Field are?"
"The Danger! Mothman! with 1800 ATK despite being Level 4, the Danger!? Tsuchinoko? just filling a spot, and the Danger! Ogopogo! with a despair-inducing 3000 DEF! Summoning such a powerful lineup in just one Turn makes me invincible!"
'No, it's not amazing at all, right?' The crowd watched the self-excited Diabolo speechlessly, ranting in their hearts, inexplicably feeling that this guy might be decades out of touch with the World.
If this were the era of Solomon Muto decades ago, this lineup could indeed be called terrifying. But now, any Passing Duelist could Destroy this pile of Monsters with no resistance using a single Raigeki.
Diabolo didn't know what the crowd was thinking. Feeling certain victory and getting proud, he felt he could be more composed. He extended a finger and pointed at the Monsters on his Field: "But, could a foolish guy like you ever imagine? The existence of these Monsters was modified little by little by my own hands!"
"Unlike Monsters born relying on Card Spirits, I transformed ordinary creatures into powerful Cards, creating this Danger! Deck!"
"Amazing, right? Incredible, right? A genius, right!"
The triumphant Diabolo looked at the stunned crowd, his mood becoming even more pleasant. Even Hayato was shocked by Diabolo's words.
"Transforming ordinary creatures into Card Spirits!?"
"Is that kind of thing really possible?"
"Rather, the fact that Card Spirits can be artificially created is already outrageous, let alone that it's through biological modification!"
Marik, Tristan, and Joey Wheeler discussed behind him, while Hayato seriously examined the Monsters before him. He knew that the artificial creation of Card Spirits was indeed possible. For example, Judai's Yubel, which Kaiba had Sent to Heaven, was an artificially created Card Spirit, a Monster transformed from a human through the modification of dark power, and then turned into a Card Spirit.
But, did this Diabolo also master this technology of creating Card Spirits? He had even managed to modify ordinary animals into Card Spirits!
"Heh heh, astonished by such a thing? How short-sighted." Diabolo said, raising his hand to lift his cloak. "How could you possibly imagine my grand goal and the greatness of alchemy!"
Lifting the cloak covering his body, Diabolo's true form appeared before everyone. He was a gaunt old man with pink hair that had spots like it had gone moldy.
However, the most eye-catching thing was a spherical stone embedded in his chest, which made Yugi, Joey Wheeler, and the others gasp in astonishment.
"Is that, Orichalcos?"
"No, it's not Orichalcos." Hayato, who knew more information than Yugi and the others, stared at the red in the center of the green gem and said in shock, "That is, a transforming Sage's Stone!"
Chapter 689: Traitor Dragon Mini
"Heh heh, unexpectedly knowledgeable, huh? Not only do you recognize the raw material, Orichalcos, but you also know about the existence of the Philosopher's Stone?" Diabolo said, stroking the unfinished Philosopher's Stone embedded in his chest as if showing off. "Allow me to introduce myself again."
"My name is Diabolo, and I am an Alchemist. My research topics are the 'Philosopher's Stone' and 'Human Transmutation'."
Pointing to the three monsters on his Field, Diabolo's tone was full of pride: "The monsters you see are byproducts born from my 'Human Transmutation' research. Their birth also advanced my research on the 'Philosopher's Stone'."
"Although they are just failed experiments, they are enough to become your undoing!"
"I Summon one monster in Face-Down Defense Position, then Set four cards. My turn ends."
[Diabolo: 4000 LP, Hand 0]
[Danger!? Tsuchinoko?][ATK 1300]
[Danger! Mothman!][ATK 1800]
[Danger! Ogopogo!][DEF 3000]
[Face-Down Defense Position Monster]
[Set Card] X4
"Seriously, compared to those trashy monsters on your Front Row, aren't the four Set Cards on your Spell/Trap Zone much scarier?" Hayato retorted, looking at the smug Diabolo. At the same time, Diabolo's performance confirmed that this guy had indeed been isolated from the World for a considerable time.
His failure to recognize Joey Wheeler, Yugi, and himself, who had been on a global live broadcast during Battle City, was understandable if he wasn't interested in television programs and hadn't watched it. However, because Dartz's incident hadn't been long ago, the existence of the Seal of Orichalcos had spread among many people attacked by Doma. Even in the most remote corners, people had heard the word "Orichalcos" to some extent.
Yet, Diabolo was surprised that Yugi and the others knew "Orichalcos". Judging from his reaction, he probably hadn't had contact with Human Civilization for decades.
As for the Duel Disk shaped from mist, Hayato could tell from the subtle modification marks on it that Diabolo had likely imitated it based on the specially modified Duel Disk Keipei had given him.
However, Alchemist, Human Transmutation, and so on—even Hayato couldn't fully understand what Diabolo was talking about for a moment. But it didn't matter if he didn't understand. For Hayato, there was only one thing he needed to do next—
"Alright, this time we're playing a pure Gaia Deck. Gaia is my old friend, and I must call Gaia immediately."
"My turn, draw!" Drawing a card from the top of my Deck, Hayato smiled slightly and raised his Duel Disk. "That Card Destruction indeed helped you Summon a large number of monsters, but you're not the only one who can utilize that Effect."
"I activate the Effect of Treeborn Frog in my Graveyard! If I have no Spell/Trap Cards on my Field, this card can be Special Summoned from my Graveyard during my Standby Phase."
As he spoke, a halo slowly rose from the ground not far in front of Hayato. A Frog with pure white wings on its back, looking as if it had ascended, appeared on Hayato's Field, topped with a halo.
[Treeborn Frog][Level 1/WATER]
[Aqua Type/Effect]
[100/100]
"A monster with only 100 ATK/DEF? Hmph, just a Small Fry," Diabolo said dismissively, looking at the newly appeared Treeborn Frog. "That kind of monster appearing on the Field is completely unnecessary, isn't it?"
"Is that so? Then watch closely and see what kind of power this Small Fry monster will radiate in my Hand." Hayato glanced at the six cards in his Hand and drew one of them. "By sending a Level 5☆ or higher monster from my Hand to the Graveyard, this monster can be Special Summoned from my Hand!"
"Bathed in the scarlet spiral spear, riding the gale towards the unknown world, come before me! Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin!"
Pausing for a moment, Hayato added before playing the card: "As everyone knows, if you don't call out the card's name with enough aura, the card won't respond to you. Shout its name loudly!"
"GAI—A—!!!"
Following Hayato's loud shout, Gaia, now in cool armor and riding a new mount, appeared. Joey Wheeler and Tristan Off-field exclaimed that it had that classic feel because of Hayato's signature shout.
[Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin][Level 4/EARTH]
[Warrior/Effect]
[1600/1200]
"Although it's a Level 4 monster that can be Normal Summoned directly, Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin has the ability to Special Summon itself from the Hand by sending a Level 5☆ or higher monster from the Hand to the Graveyard. Might as well use it," Hayato quickly revealed the Level 5☆ Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon, then sent it to the Graveyard.
Diabolo looked at Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin, becoming slightly more serious, but still didn't pay it much mind. "A Level 4 with 1600 ATK, huh? Hmph, although it's stronger than Luster Soldier, it's still no match for my Danger! Mothman! with its 1800 ATK on the Field."
However, at the same time, Diabolo was thinking to himself: 'He's willing to spend a card from his Hand just to save the Normal Summon opportunity. Does he plan to Tribute the two monsters on the Field to Summon a Higher-Level monster in one go?'
'Heh heh heh, it's Muda Muda, Muda Muda. Among the Set Cards on my Spell/Trap Zone, I've prepared the super powerful Continuous Trap Card, Gravity Bind. That's an invincible card that can restrict all Level 4 or higher monsters from attacking. If he Summons a Higher-Level monster, he'll fall right into my Trap.'
'But I won't be kind enough to warn him. I'm really looking forward to the expression on these idiots' faces when Gravity Bind is Activated~'
Just as Diabolo expected, Hayato's goal in Special Summoning Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin instead of Normal Summoning it was indeed to perform a Tribute Summon.
"There are two monsters on the Field. One soul guides the light, and one soul guides the darkness. By Tributing these two monsters, I will Tribute Summon this monster!"
As Hayato raised the card above his head, the WATER Attribute Treeborn Frog served as the part that "guides the light", and the EARTH Attribute Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin reluctantly served as the part that "guides the darkness". The forms of the two monsters dispersed.
In their place, a giant dragon divided into black and white landed on the Field.
"The perfect black and white dragon! Light and Darkness Dragon! Amazing, truly amazing!"
Playing the monster card onto his Duel Disk, Hayato pointed at Diabolo. "The rule of victory has been confirmed!"
"Enter my Battle Phase!"
Diabolo frowned, looking at the card data that appeared alongside Light and Darkness Dragon.
[Light and Darkness Dragon][Level 8/LIGHT]
[Dragon Type/Effect]
[2800/2400]
As a LIGHT Attribute Dragon-Type monster with a high Level of 8☆, Light and Darkness Dragon had 2800 ATK, slightly less than Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and 2400 DEF, also slightly lower than Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but it was still a powerful monster with both attack and defense capabilities.
Diabolo's own Danger! Ogopogo! on the Field didn't need to worry about being destroyed by Light and Darkness Dragon because of its high 3000 DEF, but he had Danger! Mothman! and Danger!? Tsuchinoko? in Attack Position. If the one with the lowest ATK, Danger!? Tsuchinoko?, were destroyed by Light and Darkness Dragon, he would take 1500 Damage.
But it didn't matter. The reason he Summoned Tsuchinoko? was to bait the opponent into attacking, then activate Gravity Bind.
"The instant you enter the Battle Phase, I activate this Set Card on my Back Row, the Continuous Trap Card, Gravity Bind!"
Diabolo didn't press the Activate Set Card button on his Duel Disk; with his voice control, one of his Set Cards on the Back Row opened on its own, and a large green net that seemed to cover the entire Field flew out from the card art.
"Hahaha, you didn't expect this, did you? I prepared this card on my Back Row! The Effect of Gravity Bind can restrict all Level 4 or higher monsters on the entire Field from attacking!" Diabolo said smugly. "Your monster is immobilized!"
The green net seemed to weigh ten thousand pounds, falling from the sky. But as if to make a fool of Diabolo, Gravity Bind, which had crushed Danger! Ogopogo! and Danger! Mothman! on his Field the instant it touched them, was instantly shattered by a sweep of Light and Darkness Dragon's long tail before it even reached it!?
At the same time, Light and Darkness Dragon's ATK/DEF also changed.
[Light and Darkness Dragon][2800/2400 → 2300/1900]
"What, what's going on?"
"Ho ho, you don't understand? You don't understand why the situation is like this now? Then let me tell you." Diabolo looked at Hayato in confusion, and Hayato didn't keep him in suspense. With his arms crossed over his chest, he said with a smile, "Light and Darkness Dragon has a Forced Activation effect. Just now, the instant your Gravity Bind was activated, at the cost of decreasing its own ATK/DEF by 500 points, Light and Darkness Dragon negated the activation of Gravity Bind."
"Although it's a Continuous Trap Card, if its activation is negated, Gravity Bind is naturally sent to the Graveyard."
Hayato pointed his finger at Danger!? Tsuchinoko? on Diabolo's Field. "And now, it's still within my Battle Phase. Without the shackles of Gravity Bind, I will use Light and Darkness Dragon to attack Danger!? Tsuchinoko? on your Field in Attack Position!"
"Twin Arms - Zero-Point Gather Together!"
Following Hayato's attack command, Light and Darkness Dragon hesitated slightly, then instead of breathing dragon breath from its mouth to attack, it channeled the power of light and darkness from its left and right halves, gathering it in its two claws, transforming it into two energy balls, one black and one white, and launched them.
Seeing the incoming attack, Diabolo gritted his teeth and waved his hand again, giving an order: "Then this time, I chain Attack Declaration, and activate this Set Card, Sakuretsu Armor—"
"Muda Muda Muda, Light and Darkness Dragon's power doesn't have a once per turn restriction at all! Similarly, at the cost of decreasing its ATK/DEF by 500 points, it negates the activation of Sakuretsu Armor!"
Before Diabolo could finish speaking, Hayato commanded Light and Darkness Dragon to flap its wings, stirring up a gale that directly tore the Sakuretsu Armor, which had only just opened halfway on Diabolo's Back Row, into fragments. This time, Sakuretsu Armor was destroyed before it even fully appeared.
[Light and Darkness Dragon][2300/1900 → 1800/1400]
Although the Sakuretsu Armor, which could destroy the attacking monster, was negated by Hayato, Diabolo saw Light and Darkness Dragon being weakened again and breathed a sigh of relief. "What's this? Although it looked amazing, after being weakened twice, it's just an average level monster now."
"Boom!"
Light and Darkness Dragon's attack, after being weakened, landed on Diabolo's Field, destroying Danger!? Tsuchinoko?. However, the final damage dealt was a full 1000 points less than what Diabolo had estimated when it was first Summoned.
[Diabolo: 4000 → 3500 LP]
"Insignificant damage. I even got slightly nervous about that monster for nothing." After taking a mere 500 points of damage, which felt like a gentle breeze, Diabolo didn't even frown and looked contemptuously at Light and Darkness Dragon on Hayato's Field. After negating two Trap Cards, Light and Darkness Dragon's tail and wings were no longer clearly black and white, but had turned a dull gray.
Under the balanced control of the power of light and darkness, it possessed the power to resist everything, but this balance couldn't last. Light and Darkness Dragon's ATK had now dropped to only 1800 points. Danger! Mothman! alone was enough to result in mutual destruction with it, and at best, it could only support using its effect two more times.
"Your Light and Darkness Dragon can't change Battle Position anymore, can it? As long as I keep helping it activate its Forced Activation effect, its ATK will continue to decrease and become a flaw I can utilize. Let me help you decrease its ATK a bit more," Diabolo said, waving his hand to flip over another Set Card on his Spell/Trap Zone. "Trap Card, Damage Gate, activate!"
"I can only activate this when I take Battle Damage. I select one monster from my Graveyard with ATK less than or equal to the damage I took at that time and Special Summon it. Because I took 500 points of Battle Damage, I can Special Summon Danger!? Jackalope? from my Graveyard, whose ATK is exactly 500 points."
Pausing, Diabolo sneered, "But you said it yourself, Light and Darkness Dragon's effect is a Forced Activation. Damage Gate's effect will naturally be negated, and then Light and Darkness Dragon's ATK/DEF will decrease."
Hayato spread his hands helplessly. "Congratulations, you've learned to answer questions before they're finished."
As Diabolo said, as soon as Damage Gate on his Back Row was flipped, Light and Darkness Dragon passively negated it. As Damage Gate was sent to the Graveyard, Light and Darkness Dragon's body became half gray.
[Light and Darkness Dragon][1800/1400 → 1300/900]
"Heh heh, it's already at the same level as the weak Tsuchinoko?. But it's not over yet! I still have one more card on my Back Row that I can activate!" Diabolo didn't back down. Even though he had already decreased Light and Darkness Dragon's ATK to a very weak level, he still activated the last card on his Back Row. "Trap Card, Danger! Zone! The effect isn't important; it's going to be negated anyway."
This fourth Set Card completely drained Light and Darkness Dragon's power. After the two-colored flying dragon breathed dragon breath to negate the Danger! Zone Card, its entire body became dim and lifeless, as if it had lost its life force and turned into a stone statue.
[Light and Darkness Dragon][1300/900 → 800/400]
Now, Light and Darkness Dragon couldn't even break through the defense of Small Fry monsters like the Ojama monsters! Seeing this, Diabolo showed a proud smile.
However, Hayato also smiled.
"Oh my, what an amazing combo. Too strong, so strong I almost thought I was dueling against an AI," Hayato said, drawing a card from his Hand. Then he felt that wasn't quite right and corrected himself, "No, that's not right either. The AI Seto created is still very strong. This feels even worse than an AI. At least an AI wouldn't use up all its skills just because the opponent did a simple Normal Attack test."
"Although the Battle Phase has ended, I told you, this is a pure Gaia Deck."
As the card was inserted into the Duel Disk, a card with the name Dragon Mirror appeared on Hayato's Back Row. "The real duel begins now!"
"Magic Card, Dragon Mirror!" Diabolo looked at the card Hayato played and repeated its name loudly, but then a confused expression appeared on his face. "What kind of card is that?"
"If you don't know, why are you repeating it over there?!"
Off-field, Joey Wheeler complained, his face full of pride. "That card is one of Hayato's most representative cards! Unlike a normal Polymerization Magic Card, it can directly select the Fusion Material needed for Dragon-Type Monsters from the Field and Graveyard."
"And, naturally, Hayato is definitely going to use Curse of Dragon, the Cursed Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight Origin from his Graveyard as Fusion Material to Summon Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion, right?!"
Joey Wheeler stated his guess as a Professional Duelist, but he was met with Hayato's silence.
"Uh, Hayato, you are going to Summon Sky Galloping Gaia the Dragon Champion, right?"
Hearing Joey Wheeler's words, Tristan, who was standing nearby, said helplessly, "Idiot, after all this time, you still don't know Hayato's habits? When have you ever seen him not stuff all sorts of strange cards into so-called 'pure' Decks to pull off fancy tricks?"
Hayato heard Tristan say this and looked helpless. "Well, it's like that. The Fusion Material I'm choosing is Treeborn Frog from my Graveyard, and Aleister the Invoker."
"Aleister the Invoker? Is that the card that was Send to Graveyard by the Effect of Card Destruction earlier?" Diabolo muttered to himself, then saw Treeborn Frog, which had appeared once before, appear next to Hayato in a phantom form. On Hayato's other side was a hooded Spellcaster holding a Staff.
"Alright, alright~ I'm a Gaia Monster too." Complaining about Hayato's bizarre insistence, Aleister the Invoker still wanted to ask, "Does purity matter?", but he knew there was serious business to attend to now. He flicked his Staff, sending it flying towards the Dragon Mirror in Hayato's Back Row. The moment it touched the Mirror Surface, a complex and profound Magic Circle was instantly constructed.
Aleister the Invoker, a Spellcaster Type, and Treeborn Frog, an Aqua Type—two cards completely unrelated to Dragon Type—entered the modified Dragon Mirror. The next moment, the Mirror Surface covered in the Magic Circle shattered violently!
———Of course, the Dragon Knight's opening theme didn't play.
Along with the shattering of the Mirror Surface, a pale blue Dragon head lifted, showered by the "rain" of the shattered Mirror. Blue Dragon blood pulsed through the fragmented Dragon Scales. On the chest of the Giant Dragon, a Staff, clearly held by Aleister the Invoker moments ago, was impaled!
"When evil appears, turn its myriad techniques into formlessness, like flowing water calming the evil battle... Giant Dragon, in the name of the surging River of Lamentation, offer your heart to me!"
"Fusion Summon! Invoked Cocytus!"
"That stitching is way too obvious!"
Amidst Marik's complaint, the Data for Invoked Cocytus displayed before Diabolo.
[Invoked Cocytus][Level 6 / Water]
[Dragon Type / Fusion / Effect]
[1800 ATK / 2900 DEF]
Looking at the blue Giant Dragon before him, Diabolo frowned. "A Spellcaster and a Frog, why can they turn into a Dragon? This is fundamentally not Duel Monsters!"
"A powerful swordsman, the ultimate Magician, and a superhero can also turn into a turtle. You don't need to understand Duel Monsters too clearly," Hayato said casually, looking at Diabolo, who seemed to still be living in the Era where "Fusion" meant "one Monster riding another Monster."
Although theoretically, Hayato had the Ability to Summon Invoked Cocytus during Main Phase 1, the Effect of Light and Darkness Dragon was a Forced Activation that didn't discriminate. If Hayato used Dragon Mirror after Summoning Light and Darkness Dragon, it would still be Negated.
While it wasn't impossible to use the Treeborn Frog on the Field and Aleister in the Graveyard as Fusion Material to Fusion Summon Invoked Cocytus first, just like how no one can resist playing Destiny HERO - Plasma to finish off the Opponent when there are three Monsters on the Field, Hayato simply couldn't refuse to Tribute Summon Light and Darkness Dragon.
Hayato had planned to use Invoked Cocytus for his Field Setup next Turn, but he didn't expect Diabolo to perform such a series of confusing Operations, somehow managing to use up all four Negates of Light and Darkness Dragon at the Cost of completely depleting his Spell/Trap Zone. This, instead, gave Hayato an advantage, allowing him to perform another Field Setup during Main Phase 2.
And since Hayato had already Banished Aleister, naturally, his Graveyard also contained—
"I Activate the Effect of Invocation existing in my Graveyard! By targeting one Banished Aleister the Invoker, I return Invocation to the Deck and Add Aleister the Invoker to my Hand."
Aleister, who had just been Banished, was Recycled. As Hayato Added him to his Hand, he said, "Invocation is Aleister the Invoker's signature Skill. It can select the Fusion Material needed to Fusion Summon a Summoned Monster from my Hand and Both Players' Graveyards. And Aleister the Invoker has the Ability to Search Invocation from the Deck when Normal Summoned successfully."
"However, unfortunately, I cannot Normal Summon again this Turn. Summoning Invoked Cocytus is pretty much my Limit."
Hayato glanced at the three cards in his Hand, selected two of them, and inserted them into the Spell & Trap Zone. "Therefore, I Set two cards. My Turn ends for now."
[Hayato: 4000 LP, Hand 1]
[Light and Darkness Dragon][800 ATK]
[Invoked Cocytus][2900 DEF]
[Set Card] X2
Diabolo took a deep breath, his thin finger trembling as it rested on his Deck. "My... My Turn..."
This is bad, super bad. I just confidently used up all four Effects of Light and Darkness Dragon. How did that guy on the other side manage to pull out another Monster in the blink of an eye?
Those five Experiment Subjects before were easy to deal with; they fall before I even put in any effort. But how did I encounter such a difficult guy here?
Lucky? No way, I'm having terrible luck. Hurry up and move, my Deck! I, Diabolo, am going to become the strongest Alchemist! How could I be defeated in a place like this by mere Humans who are like Experiment Subjects?
"...Draw!" With a nervous mood, Diabolo drew the card from the Top of Deck. The moment he saw the card he flipped over, his face couldn't help but show an extremely obvious look of wild joy.
"Activate Magic Card, Graceful Charity! I draw three cards from the Top of my Deck, then discard two cards from my Hand." After drawing three cards, Diabolo's expression also froze for a moment, then he laughed completely without restraint. "Hehehe, hehehahahahaha! As expected, I, Diabolo, am truly lucky!"
"The winner is me, Diabolo! That fact has never changed!"
Drawing two cards, Diabolo showed Hayato the cards he was about to discard to the Graveyard. "The cards I'm discarding from my Hand are these two Monsters, [Danger! Nessie!], and [Danger! Bigfoot!]!"
"When [Danger! Nessie!] is discarded from the Hand, I Activate its Effect! I Add one [Danger!] card other than [Danger! Nessie!] from my Deck to my Hand." After quickly completing the Search, Diabolo wasn't very concerned about the card he searched, but continued proudly, "The key point is the Effect of [Danger! Bigfoot!]! When it's discarded from the Hand, I Activate its Effect by targeting one Face-up Monster on the Opponent's Field, and Destroy that card!"
"What kind of nonsensical Summoned Monster? Be crushed into meat paste!"
"Hahaha!"
With an arrogant expression, Diabolo pointed his finger at Invoked Cocytus on Hayato's Field. The illusory figure of [Danger! Bigfoot!] also appeared beside him.
However, after Diabolo laughed for a long time, he found that the Effect of [Danger! Bigfoot!] he had Declared had not Activated. The giant blue-skinned savage stood beside him motionless, like a robot that had lost power.
Seeing that [Danger! Bigfoot!] did not act as he wished, Diabolo was not polite to his card at all. He immediately kicked the silent, numb savage. "You fat pig, are you defying me? Defying me, your Creator! Move, why aren't you moving!"
Yugi watched Diabolo's actions and frowned. "What is that guy doing to his card!?"
"Diabolo said that his Card Spirits were all gradually modified from ordinary creatures. That means that guy fundamentally doesn't care about his cards, right? He just treats cards as Experiment Subjects and doesn't care about the feelings of other life." Téa said with a look of disgust. "He's a truly wicked guy."
Joey Wheeler was also a little angry. "Even 'Frankenstein', the mad scientist, had love in his heart, but this guy is just a perverted lunatic."
"Even villains have their aesthetics, but this guy, hehe. In the Rare Hunters, he wouldn't even be qualified to be a Tribute for Ra," Marik commented with a look of contempt.
"The most key point is, this guy is just incredibly stupid! Talking about 'Alchemy' and stuff, his brain must be broken. I feel like my skill level in Duel Monsters is stronger than his," Tristan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "If a Monster Effect can't Activate, doesn't he think it might be because of Hayato's Monster?"
Seeing Diabolo flailing his thin limbs and punching and kicking [Danger! Bigfoot!], Hayato shook his head helplessly and said, "Idiot, do you think everyone is like you, thinking that a Monster with high value but no Resistance is strong? My Invoked Cocytus has the Resistance of not being targeted by the Opponent's Effects."
"Thinking of using [Danger! Bigfoot!]'s Effect to directly Destroy my Monster? What a strange fantasy, utterly stupid."
"Cannot be targeted by Effects? Damn it, what an annoying effect." Hearing Hayato's words, Diabolo's expression was very unpleasant. "But the other Light and Darkness Dragon on your Field doesn't have this Resistance, does it? In that case, I'll choose to Destroy it!"
This time, with the correct Target, [Danger! Bigfoot!] acted normally. Just like when it was instructed by Diabolo to capture Hayato and the others before, it extended its giant palm, like a City Wall, towards Light and Darkness Dragon on Hayato's Field.
However, the moment [Danger! Bigfoot!]'s palm closed, suddenly, the figure of Light and Darkness Dragon shattered and disappeared like foam, as if it had actually existed in a Different Dimension and what they had just seen was merely an illusory projection.
Diabolo's eyes widened, and he questioned Hayato, "Where did that Monster go?! That Monster that looked like a burnt pancake on one side and undercooked on the other, where did it run off to?!"
"Uh, that's actually a pretty accurate description. As for Light and Darkness Dragon, it was a gift given to me by a child who admired me. This is proof of the bond between me and him, and I can't bear to let a guy like you destroy it."
As Hayato spoke, he gestured to the side. Only then did Diabolo see that one of the Set Cards in Hayato's Back Row had been flipped face-up at some point.
"Just now, I Chained to the Effect of [Danger! Bigfoot!] and Activated the Trap Card Interdimensional Matter Transporter. This card's Effect can be Activated by targeting one Face-up Monster on my Field, Banishing that Face-up Monster until the End Phase."
"This way, the Effect of [Danger! Bigfoot!] missed its Target. Light and Darkness Dragon hid in the toilet to dodge the Effect." Hayato spread his hand. "In other words, NIGERUNDAYO~"
Diabolo looked at Hayato, who was completely relaxed and didn't seem to take him seriously, feeling looked down upon and quite angry. Although he wouldn't consider what qualification he had to be looked up to at his skill level.
He glanced at the two cards in his Hand. After a slight hesitation, Diabolo reached for a card on his Field—the Monster he had Set in Face-Down Defense Position last Turn.
"I will Flip Summon this Monster and Activate its Effect!"
A grinning Pot appeared before Hayato.
"Morphing Jar's Ability is, when this card is flipped, Both Players discard their entire Hand, and then Both Players draw five cards from their Deck." Diabolo said, discarding the two cards in his Hand, while Hayato also discarded the only card in his Hand, Aleister the Invoker, into the Graveyard. Then Both Players each drew five cards.
It's because of this Draw Effect, similar to Card of Demise, that Diabolo had hesitated earlier. Although his Dueling was terrible, he could at least see that if Hayato's hand resources increased significantly, he would be in a very bad situation. However, at least he used Morphing Jar's Effect to make Hayato discard Aleister the Invoker, preventing the scenario Hayato mentioned for the next Turn: "Normal Summon Aleister~ Effect Search Invocation~".
And at the same time, he once again discarded two cards from his Hand into the Graveyard.
"I Activate the Effect of [Danger! Dogman!] discarded into the Graveyard! All Monsters on the Opponent's Field lose 1000 ATK until the End Phase. Then, the Effect of my second [Danger! Chupacabra!]! I Special Summon one [Danger!] Monster from the Graveyard."
Taking a card from the Graveyard, Diabolo held it in his hand, took a deep breath, and said through gritted teeth, "To be forced to use this card, what a humiliation!"
"The one I will Special Summon is [Danger! Dogman!] which was just discarded into the Graveyard, which is myself!"
As he spoke, Diabolo's entire body rapidly grew a large amount of thick fur, his bones twisted and deformed with creaking sounds. In a few breaths, a thin old man turned into a muscular, hairy Monster with the head of a Jackal-headed being!
[Danger! Dogman!][Level 7 / Dark]
[Beast-Warrior / Effect]
[2400 ATK / 1000 DEF]