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Chapter 456: Thanks, My Win Rate is a Thousand Percent!
[Hayato: 2000 LP]
[Rayne: 1 LP]
"It's, it's Mr. Hayato!?"
Hayato had previously used the mind-controlling ability of the **[Millennium Rod]** to prevent others from connecting him with "Hayato Kobayashi," achieving a different kind of "disguise." However, after throwing the **[Millennium Rod]** towards Marik, Rayne von Schroeder was finally able to link Hayato with "Hayato Kobayashi."
'Why is my opponent Mr. Hayato?! Why didn't I realize it before!?'
Looking at the dumbfounded Rayne von Schroeder, Hayato knew this guy was definitely thinking about things unrelated to the Duel right now.
Under normal circumstances, Hayato might have enjoyed watching Rayne von Schroeder's constantly changing expression as his inner thoughts shifted, but the situation was urgent. Although Hayato wouldn't go so far as to kill Astra, he still wanted to end the Duel as quickly as possible.
Although, in reality, Hayato dueling Rayne von Schroeder now to stop Bakura's plan seemed to violate the agreement they made during the Dark Game, it was well-known that Kaiba was responsible for the KC Cup arrangements, and Hayato was "used" by Kaiba.
Just as there's nothing wrong with a repairman carrying a hammer and wrench with him, as a Duelist, there's nothing wrong with Hayato giving his all in a Duel; it just so happens that his opponent is Rayne von Schroeder.
After getting the **[Millennium Rod]**, Marik was as excited as if he'd eaten cheap candy and chased it with brandy. He ran off somewhere with Tristan and the others, and Hayato felt he needed to move faster.
"Rayne von Schroeder, bring it on! Let me see your... Federation, ah, no, let me see your strength as a Duelist." Since it was still Rayne von Schroeder's turn, Hayato felt a bit awkward about just ending his turn without even going through the Battle Phase. "Giving your all in a Duel, no matter who your opponent is, is one of the necessary qualities of a Duelist."
"Come on, Rayne von Schroeder!"
Hayato had said this much, and although Rayne didn't think he could easily defeat Hayato, the Duel King, he was somewhat encouraged and found his courage.
At this moment, Rayne von Schroeder's Life Points were only 1 point, but Hayato only had one Set Card on his Field.
Rayne's Hand contained a **[Revival Water]**, which could be used to revive the **[Iron Knight]** sleeping in Rayne's Graveyard. Also, the **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** had an effect that allowed him to Special Summon a monster from his Deck in Attack Position once per turn. This way, he could gather a monster combine with 2000 or more ATK on the Field.
As long as the attack went through, he could achieve victory. With this, the great achievement of defeating the Duel King seemed close at hand?
Rayne's heart burned with excitement. Although he was quite vigilant about what card Hayato had in his Spell/Trap Zone, he couldn't help but imagine the scene after he secured the victory.
"I activate the effect of my Field Spell Card on the Field, **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**." After searching for a card from his Deck, Rayne von Schroeder summoned it to the Field. "Once per turn, I can randomly Special Summon one monster with Level 4 or lower from my Deck to my Field in Attack Position."
"Come forth, my monster!"
The **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]'s** effect for Special Summoning a monster is random, meaning what specific monster appears depends entirely on luck. If he's lucky and summons a monster with high ATK or a powerful effect, that's great. But if he's unlucky and summons a weak normal monster like **[Ojama Yellow]** with 0 ATK, that would be bad.
However, clearly, Rayne von Schroeder's luck was quite good. The monster that appeared on his Field was **[Little Red Riding Hood]** with 800 ATK.
The cute little girl, wearing a hat made of red cloth, appeared bouncing onto Rayne's Field, looking cheerful and carefree. From time to time, she would look around, and her eyes, gazing at the magnificent **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, didn't hold the greed adults show when seeing gold, but only innocent curiosity.
**[Little Red Riding Hood]** [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Fairy / Effect]
[800 / 1200]
Although her ATK was much lower than **[Iron Knight]'s** 1700 points, she had an effect that allowed her to Special Summon a Warrior Type monster with Level 4 or lower from the Deck when she is destroyed by battle. Of course, with Rayne's current 1 LP, if **[Little Red Riding Hood]** were destroyed by battle, he would lose immediately; even if the effect could be activated, it would be useless.
In reality, Rayne von Schroeder wasn't planning on lasting until the next turn. Both sides' Life Points were like a flickering candle; one Battle Phase was enough to decide the victory or defeat.
"I use my last card in hand, the Spell Card **[Revival Water]**, to Special Summon **[Iron Knight]** from my Graveyard in Attack Position, and then enter the Battle Phase!"
Rayne von Schroeder fully immersed himself in the Duel. At this moment, he had cast everything outside the Duel to the back of his mind. All he thought about was "winning the Duel," and all he saw was Hayato standing opposite him.
Even the **[Gryphon Winged Beast]** that Rayne von Schroeder had discarded to the Graveyard sensed his astonishing fighting spirit.
"What intense desire for victory. Has he transferred all his inner thoughts of unease and concerns about other things into the Duel? It's not a bad way to win," the illusory spirit murmured in a voice even its master couldn't hear, glancing in Hayato's direction.
"But ultimately, fighting spirit can only allow you to unleash your potential one hundred percent. When the gap in power reaches a certain level..."
Rayne von Schroeder waved his hand forward: "First, I use **[Little Red Riding Hood]** to declare a direct attack! Mushroom Mushroom Impact!"
As the protagonist of the famous fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, despite her weak ATK, possessed a powerful kind of power: the so-called protagonist's aura.
After receiving Rayne's attack command, **[Little Red Riding Hood]** began to move in a flustered manner. But just as she took a step, she performed the legendary technique "Falling Flat," and her entire body fell down onto the ground. The basket in her hand, filled with mushrooms she had picked from the Forest, also flew out of her grasp. The basket spun in mid-air, and all the colorful mushrooms "coincidentally" flew towards Hayato's position. Judging by the color of the mushrooms, even just one could probably make the whole village lie flat.
Hayato raised an eyebrow, completely surprised that **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** attack method was the legendary mushroom medley. He initially thought it would be something like a little punch to the chest.
Although the colorful mushrooms had a great impact on his mind, Hayato could just barely handle it.
[Hayato: 2000 → 1200 LP]
The mushroom rain passed through Hayato, taking 800 Life Points from him. Seeing this, Rayne said excitedly, "Niiiice! Only 1200 Life Points left! **[Iron Knight]**, let's press the attack and go for the final direct attack!"
Beside **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, who had just sat up from the ground, tearfully looking at the basket she had dropped, **[Iron Knight]**, also a protagonist from a fairy tale, charged forward on his war horse.
However, what Rayne didn't expect was that the Set Card in Hayato's Spell/Trap Zone, which hadn't reacted at all during **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** direct attack, flipped open the moment **[Iron Knight]** declared an attack.
"Muda da, don't think this level of attack can finish me off, Rayne von Schroeder," Hayato said with a triumphant smile, flipping over the card in his Spell/Trap Zone. "I'll use the invincible **[Absorption Shield]** to turn your **[Iron Knight]'s** attack into material for my Life Points!"
"Negate one monster's attack, and **[Iron Knight]'s** Life Points value will be added to my Life Points!"
"Clang~"
Although it had already reached Hayato, and **[Iron Knight]'s** lance only needed to pierce Hayato to secure victory for Rayne von Schroeder, the illusory energy shield perfectly absorbed the impact force of **[Iron Knight]'s** attack and added it to Hayato's Life Points.
[Hayato: 1200 → 2900 LP]
Even though all of Rayne's monsters had completed a round of attacks, Hayato's Life Points had actually increased compared to before the Battle Phase began. This made Rayne von Schroeder somewhat frustrated. "As expected of Mr. Hayato, he's not that easy to defeat." Glancing at his own single Life Point, Rayne von Schroeder could already see his crushing defeat next turn. As long as Hayato summoned any monster with ATK greater than 0, he could then use the power of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]** to defeat him.
"My turn ends. Then, because of the effect of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]**, I tribute **[Little Red Riding Hood]** on my Field and send her to the Graveyard, inflicting damage to my opponent equal to half of **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** ATK value, which is 400 points of damage."
"Sorry, **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, please rest in the Graveyard for now." With an apologetic expression, Rayne von Schroeder sent **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, who had just managed to tidy up her basket on his Field, to the Graveyard. After taking a few deep breaths to calm his mood, he looked at Hayato.
[Hayato: 2900 → 2500 LP]
[Rayne: 1 LP, Hand 0]
[Iron Knight] [ATK 1700]
Field: **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**
"Mr. Hayato, come on."
"Alright, then my turn begins." Hayato nodded and reached for his Deck.
He vaguely remembered that in the original plot, Rayne von Schroeder's **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** seemed to be the same as the current situation, used by that pink-haired Zigfried von Schroeder as an activation key, and he had also tampered with it. However, he couldn't quite remember the specific ways it was tampered with.
As a Duelist, even though he could recite the full name, level, summoning condition, effect, and even the specific effect ruling of a card just by looking at its card face, this didn't prevent Hayato from forgetting the specific plot details. It was like how many people could write out song lyrics word-for-word but couldn't recite "On the Six States."
However, Hayato felt that sort of thing didn't matter, because judging by the current situation on the Field, victory was his no matter what.
2500 Life Points against 1 Life Point, the opponent has no hand and no set cards, and besides a monster with 1700 ATK, there's only a Field Spell Card. His win rate was 1000%; there was no way he could lose.
Hayato did remember the effect of **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** after its real card adaptation. Once per turn, it could Special Summon a monster from the Deck that listed **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]'s** card name. When an opponent's monster attacks, it would be destroyed directly, and half of its ATK would be reflected as damage. Also, the cost to maintain it was to banish the top 10 cards of the Deck face-down position during each turn's Standby Phase.
It looked cool, but it was completely useless, right? All Hayato needed to do next was draw any monster with ATK greater than 0, then end turn, and he would achieve victory directly with the effect of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]**.
He was definitely going to win.
Thinking this, Hayato's finger touched the card at the top of his Deck and drew the first card, but he didn't even have time to flip it over and look at it.
But just then, the **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** beneath Rayne and Hayato suddenly flashed with a golden light. Immediately after, before Hayato could even react, a full half of the cards in his Deck were ejected and sent to the Graveyard!?
???
Hayato's eyebrows shot up, his head full of questions.
Where's my Deck?
Where's my thick Deck from just now?
There were at least thirty-something cards just now, how did the Deck suddenly become only about half its size after a flash of golden light?
The confused Hayato looked at Rayne von Schroeder opposite him, only to find that his face also wore an expression of surprise: "How could this be!?"
"The effect of **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, why would it!?"
It seemed he knew something.
"Hey, Rayne, what's going on?" Hayato asked. "Did you activate some effect?"
In a Duel, asking if the opponent activated a card effect is completely allowed. Even asking what specific effects the opponent's cards have is within the permitted scope. However, whether or not to answer the opponent's questions is something the Duelist decides for themselves.
After all, in Duel Monsters, psychological games, collecting information, and verifying it are also a great pleasure. A cautious Duelist might choose not to let their opponent know all their effects until the Duel ends, while some incredibly reckless Duelists might reveal the full effects of their cards without even being asked by their opponent. It's even possible for them to reveal the combo they plan to use and what cards they have in hand.
"No, it's not an effect I activated. No, wait, it is the effect of my card." Rayne said somewhat incoherently, first shaking his head, then nodding. As if he couldn't think of a way to explain, he pointed directly at his Duel Disk.
"**[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, the Field Spell Card **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** I activated earlier, it has an effect that requires me to send half the cards in my Deck to the Graveyard during each Standby Phase as a maintenance cost."
"But I don't know what's going on, this cost for maintaining the card appeared on your side!"
[Hayato: 2000 LP]
[Rayne: 1 LP]
"It's, it's Mr. Hayato!?"
Hayato had previously used the mind-controlling ability of the **[Millennium Rod]** to prevent others from connecting him with "Hayato Kobayashi," achieving a different kind of "disguise." However, after throwing the **[Millennium Rod]** towards Marik, Rayne von Schroeder was finally able to link Hayato with "Hayato Kobayashi."
'Why is my opponent Mr. Hayato?! Why didn't I realize it before!?'
Looking at the dumbfounded Rayne von Schroeder, Hayato knew this guy was definitely thinking about things unrelated to the Duel right now.
Under normal circumstances, Hayato might have enjoyed watching Rayne von Schroeder's constantly changing expression as his inner thoughts shifted, but the situation was urgent. Although Hayato wouldn't go so far as to kill Astra, he still wanted to end the Duel as quickly as possible.
Although, in reality, Hayato dueling Rayne von Schroeder now to stop Bakura's plan seemed to violate the agreement they made during the Dark Game, it was well-known that Kaiba was responsible for the KC Cup arrangements, and Hayato was "used" by Kaiba.
Just as there's nothing wrong with a repairman carrying a hammer and wrench with him, as a Duelist, there's nothing wrong with Hayato giving his all in a Duel; it just so happens that his opponent is Rayne von Schroeder.
After getting the **[Millennium Rod]**, Marik was as excited as if he'd eaten cheap candy and chased it with brandy. He ran off somewhere with Tristan and the others, and Hayato felt he needed to move faster.
"Rayne von Schroeder, bring it on! Let me see your... Federation, ah, no, let me see your strength as a Duelist." Since it was still Rayne von Schroeder's turn, Hayato felt a bit awkward about just ending his turn without even going through the Battle Phase. "Giving your all in a Duel, no matter who your opponent is, is one of the necessary qualities of a Duelist."
"Come on, Rayne von Schroeder!"
Hayato had said this much, and although Rayne didn't think he could easily defeat Hayato, the Duel King, he was somewhat encouraged and found his courage.
At this moment, Rayne von Schroeder's Life Points were only 1 point, but Hayato only had one Set Card on his Field.
Rayne's Hand contained a **[Revival Water]**, which could be used to revive the **[Iron Knight]** sleeping in Rayne's Graveyard. Also, the **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** had an effect that allowed him to Special Summon a monster from his Deck in Attack Position once per turn. This way, he could gather a monster combine with 2000 or more ATK on the Field.
As long as the attack went through, he could achieve victory. With this, the great achievement of defeating the Duel King seemed close at hand?
Rayne's heart burned with excitement. Although he was quite vigilant about what card Hayato had in his Spell/Trap Zone, he couldn't help but imagine the scene after he secured the victory.
"I activate the effect of my Field Spell Card on the Field, **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**." After searching for a card from his Deck, Rayne von Schroeder summoned it to the Field. "Once per turn, I can randomly Special Summon one monster with Level 4 or lower from my Deck to my Field in Attack Position."
"Come forth, my monster!"
The **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]'s** effect for Special Summoning a monster is random, meaning what specific monster appears depends entirely on luck. If he's lucky and summons a monster with high ATK or a powerful effect, that's great. But if he's unlucky and summons a weak normal monster like **[Ojama Yellow]** with 0 ATK, that would be bad.
However, clearly, Rayne von Schroeder's luck was quite good. The monster that appeared on his Field was **[Little Red Riding Hood]** with 800 ATK.
The cute little girl, wearing a hat made of red cloth, appeared bouncing onto Rayne's Field, looking cheerful and carefree. From time to time, she would look around, and her eyes, gazing at the magnificent **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, didn't hold the greed adults show when seeing gold, but only innocent curiosity.
**[Little Red Riding Hood]** [Level 3 / EARTH]
[Fairy / Effect]
[800 / 1200]
Although her ATK was much lower than **[Iron Knight]'s** 1700 points, she had an effect that allowed her to Special Summon a Warrior Type monster with Level 4 or lower from the Deck when she is destroyed by battle. Of course, with Rayne's current 1 LP, if **[Little Red Riding Hood]** were destroyed by battle, he would lose immediately; even if the effect could be activated, it would be useless.
In reality, Rayne von Schroeder wasn't planning on lasting until the next turn. Both sides' Life Points were like a flickering candle; one Battle Phase was enough to decide the victory or defeat.
"I use my last card in hand, the Spell Card **[Revival Water]**, to Special Summon **[Iron Knight]** from my Graveyard in Attack Position, and then enter the Battle Phase!"
Rayne von Schroeder fully immersed himself in the Duel. At this moment, he had cast everything outside the Duel to the back of his mind. All he thought about was "winning the Duel," and all he saw was Hayato standing opposite him.
Even the **[Gryphon Winged Beast]** that Rayne von Schroeder had discarded to the Graveyard sensed his astonishing fighting spirit.
"What intense desire for victory. Has he transferred all his inner thoughts of unease and concerns about other things into the Duel? It's not a bad way to win," the illusory spirit murmured in a voice even its master couldn't hear, glancing in Hayato's direction.
"But ultimately, fighting spirit can only allow you to unleash your potential one hundred percent. When the gap in power reaches a certain level..."
Rayne von Schroeder waved his hand forward: "First, I use **[Little Red Riding Hood]** to declare a direct attack! Mushroom Mushroom Impact!"
As the protagonist of the famous fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, despite her weak ATK, possessed a powerful kind of power: the so-called protagonist's aura.
After receiving Rayne's attack command, **[Little Red Riding Hood]** began to move in a flustered manner. But just as she took a step, she performed the legendary technique "Falling Flat," and her entire body fell down onto the ground. The basket in her hand, filled with mushrooms she had picked from the Forest, also flew out of her grasp. The basket spun in mid-air, and all the colorful mushrooms "coincidentally" flew towards Hayato's position. Judging by the color of the mushrooms, even just one could probably make the whole village lie flat.
Hayato raised an eyebrow, completely surprised that **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** attack method was the legendary mushroom medley. He initially thought it would be something like a little punch to the chest.
Although the colorful mushrooms had a great impact on his mind, Hayato could just barely handle it.
[Hayato: 2000 → 1200 LP]
The mushroom rain passed through Hayato, taking 800 Life Points from him. Seeing this, Rayne said excitedly, "Niiiice! Only 1200 Life Points left! **[Iron Knight]**, let's press the attack and go for the final direct attack!"
Beside **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, who had just sat up from the ground, tearfully looking at the basket she had dropped, **[Iron Knight]**, also a protagonist from a fairy tale, charged forward on his war horse.
However, what Rayne didn't expect was that the Set Card in Hayato's Spell/Trap Zone, which hadn't reacted at all during **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** direct attack, flipped open the moment **[Iron Knight]** declared an attack.
"Muda da, don't think this level of attack can finish me off, Rayne von Schroeder," Hayato said with a triumphant smile, flipping over the card in his Spell/Trap Zone. "I'll use the invincible **[Absorption Shield]** to turn your **[Iron Knight]'s** attack into material for my Life Points!"
"Negate one monster's attack, and **[Iron Knight]'s** Life Points value will be added to my Life Points!"
"Clang~"
Although it had already reached Hayato, and **[Iron Knight]'s** lance only needed to pierce Hayato to secure victory for Rayne von Schroeder, the illusory energy shield perfectly absorbed the impact force of **[Iron Knight]'s** attack and added it to Hayato's Life Points.
[Hayato: 1200 → 2900 LP]
Even though all of Rayne's monsters had completed a round of attacks, Hayato's Life Points had actually increased compared to before the Battle Phase began. This made Rayne von Schroeder somewhat frustrated. "As expected of Mr. Hayato, he's not that easy to defeat." Glancing at his own single Life Point, Rayne von Schroeder could already see his crushing defeat next turn. As long as Hayato summoned any monster with ATK greater than 0, he could then use the power of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]** to defeat him.
"My turn ends. Then, because of the effect of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]**, I tribute **[Little Red Riding Hood]** on my Field and send her to the Graveyard, inflicting damage to my opponent equal to half of **[Little Red Riding Hood]'s** ATK value, which is 400 points of damage."
"Sorry, **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, please rest in the Graveyard for now." With an apologetic expression, Rayne von Schroeder sent **[Little Red Riding Hood]**, who had just managed to tidy up her basket on his Field, to the Graveyard. After taking a few deep breaths to calm his mood, he looked at Hayato.
[Hayato: 2900 → 2500 LP]
[Rayne: 1 LP, Hand 0]
[Iron Knight] [ATK 1700]
Field: **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**
"Mr. Hayato, come on."
"Alright, then my turn begins." Hayato nodded and reached for his Deck.
He vaguely remembered that in the original plot, Rayne von Schroeder's **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** seemed to be the same as the current situation, used by that pink-haired Zigfried von Schroeder as an activation key, and he had also tampered with it. However, he couldn't quite remember the specific ways it was tampered with.
As a Duelist, even though he could recite the full name, level, summoning condition, effect, and even the specific effect ruling of a card just by looking at its card face, this didn't prevent Hayato from forgetting the specific plot details. It was like how many people could write out song lyrics word-for-word but couldn't recite "On the Six States."
However, Hayato felt that sort of thing didn't matter, because judging by the current situation on the Field, victory was his no matter what.
2500 Life Points against 1 Life Point, the opponent has no hand and no set cards, and besides a monster with 1700 ATK, there's only a Field Spell Card. His win rate was 1000%; there was no way he could lose.
Hayato did remember the effect of **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** after its real card adaptation. Once per turn, it could Special Summon a monster from the Deck that listed **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]'s** card name. When an opponent's monster attacks, it would be destroyed directly, and half of its ATK would be reflected as damage. Also, the cost to maintain it was to banish the top 10 cards of the Deck face-down position during each turn's Standby Phase.
It looked cool, but it was completely useless, right? All Hayato needed to do next was draw any monster with ATK greater than 0, then end turn, and he would achieve victory directly with the effect of **[Spiritual Energy Entity]**.
He was definitely going to win.
Thinking this, Hayato's finger touched the card at the top of his Deck and drew the first card, but he didn't even have time to flip it over and look at it.
But just then, the **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** beneath Rayne and Hayato suddenly flashed with a golden light. Immediately after, before Hayato could even react, a full half of the cards in his Deck were ejected and sent to the Graveyard!?
???
Hayato's eyebrows shot up, his head full of questions.
Where's my Deck?
Where's my thick Deck from just now?
There were at least thirty-something cards just now, how did the Deck suddenly become only about half its size after a flash of golden light?
The confused Hayato looked at Rayne von Schroeder opposite him, only to find that his face also wore an expression of surprise: "How could this be!?"
"The effect of **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, why would it!?"
It seemed he knew something.
"Hey, Rayne, what's going on?" Hayato asked. "Did you activate some effect?"
In a Duel, asking if the opponent activated a card effect is completely allowed. Even asking what specific effects the opponent's cards have is within the permitted scope. However, whether or not to answer the opponent's questions is something the Duelist decides for themselves.
After all, in Duel Monsters, psychological games, collecting information, and verifying it are also a great pleasure. A cautious Duelist might choose not to let their opponent know all their effects until the Duel ends, while some incredibly reckless Duelists might reveal the full effects of their cards without even being asked by their opponent. It's even possible for them to reveal the combo they plan to use and what cards they have in hand.
"No, it's not an effect I activated. No, wait, it is the effect of my card." Rayne said somewhat incoherently, first shaking his head, then nodding. As if he couldn't think of a way to explain, he pointed directly at his Duel Disk.
"**[Golden Castle of Stromberg]**, the Field Spell Card **[Golden Castle of Stromberg]** I activated earlier, it has an effect that requires me to send half the cards in my Deck to the Graveyard during each Standby Phase as a maintenance cost."
"But I don't know what's going on, this cost for maintaining the card appeared on your side!"
