The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　He moved out of the audience's sight and into the contestants' passage, then suddenly stopped and looked up.

　But then they saw a magical elf walking towards them on the road ahead.

　The magical elf was ugly in appearance, with its brain directly exposed, but it gave him a feeling of extreme "wisdom".

　"I see that your heart is lacking and urgently needs filling. My small shop sells hearts, at fair prices, and I treat everyone honestly, young and old..."

Chapter 1565 Darkdemon and the Pillar Giants (1/2)

　Chapter 1565 Darkdemon and the Pillar Giants (9k)

　"The magical spirit can talk."

　Louis's mind raced, and he immediately realized that the magical elf before him was most likely the son of the Valkyrie.

　—Although the Valkyrie's son never seems to have used this magical spirit in a duel.

　Louis pondered why the Valkyrie's son would send his magical spirit, but outwardly replied politely, "Trading minds, how exactly does that work?"

　The "Cosmic Brain Beast" narrowed its eyes, and the corners of its eyes curved into a smile. It immediately began to enthusiastically promote its product.

　Players lounge.

　Pandora returned from the other passage, her face showing little excitement. As she sat down, she heard Dark ask, "Why did Louis suddenly stop?"

　Pandora shook her head slightly and pondered, "I don't know, but I have a feeling that he has another trick up his sleeve."

　Dark thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that they're worried about something?"

　Pandora said, "That's an off-field matter."

　Dark said, "Having come this far, only to stop at the last step, Louis's patience is not to be underestimated."

　Pandora nodded slightly and said, "He's a decent opponent." Darke laughed and said, "Anyway, congratulations on making it into the main team, the first Duel King of the World Cup."

　Pandora then smiled slightly: "In any case, winning is always a good thing."

　She was prepared to deal with the "God Card" as the duel reached its final moments, and it was clear that Louis had already acquired it. But just as she was about to get excited, Louis suddenly stopped, leaving everyone feeling quite disappointed.

　But everyone has their own secrets. Louis probably weighed the pros and cons before giving up the competition, so there's not much point in delving too deeply.

　At this moment.

　On the hosting stage.

　Host Marilyn is congratulating Pandora on becoming the first player to advance to the third stage of the World Cup, making her the first "Duel King." However, bestowing the title of "Duel King" upon all players who make it to the main draw was originally intended to increase the number of "Gifts from God." Compared to that, the title of "Duel King" itself is rather insignificant.

　After all, this is a "Duel King" with a total of sixteen members, not just one.

　For a contender who has a chance to win the championship, the title of "King of Duels" is just one stage on the road to becoming a "champion".

　Moreover, it's hard to say whether the "gift from God" is stronger or weaker depending on the ranking.

　Pandora, however, was not overly proud of herself, and the scene of the crowd chanting her name did not stir any emotion in her heart.

　After all, she was already used to it.

　Once the audience quieted down a bit, the host continued drawing the list of contestants for the fourth duel.

　Dak and the others also focused their attention and waited. Ms. Marilyn smiled slightly and pulled the lever.

　The digital panel projected onto the sky screen immediately began to spin at high speed.

　The third round of the preliminary rounds only has sixteen duels. Three groups have already been determined, leaving thirteen groups. St. Mary's Academy still has six students who haven't been matched yet.

　Everyone stared with bated breath.

　Soon, the digital panel stopped spinning, and the name of the winner of the fourth duel was revealed.

　— "Ergarne"!

　Dark and the others suddenly looked at Ergani, whose expression was serene, as if the name had nothing to do with her.

　When the name "Erganie" appeared on the projection screen, the expressions on the faces of the other contestants became unusually serious.

　The contestants who have made it this far are no weaklings, and they can naturally see the extraordinary qualities of [[Erganie]].

　Basically, apart from those who are blindly confident, no one wants to be her opponent.

　Of course, the contestants from St. Mary's Academy are an exception.

　They even thought the next draw would be a simple lottery. "Who knows which lucky person will be chosen?"

　"Senior Eluri said slowly."

　Her opponent was confirmed to be "Court Archmage" Cole Toynbee, and she couldn't help but envy that lucky guy.

　If she draws Ergan, her World Cup journey will be completely fulfilling!

　But unfortunately not if.

　The digital panel began to rotate.

　The name of the other contestant is about to be decided.

　The audience and the contestants were all glued to the screen projection.

　After a moment, the digital panel finally stopped.

　Alongside the contestant's number, their name and portrait appeared: "The Bloodthirsty Saintess" Hayley Saint Meredith!

　"It's actually the 'Bloody Saintess'!"

　Dark's heart stirred, and he looked toward where the Holy Church contestants were.

　Although the "Bloody Saintess" participated in the World Cup on her own initiative, now that she has reached the third round of the qualifiers, her personal wishes are no longer important. She has now become one of the Holy Church's most prominent figures, and naturally, she sits in the Holy Church's area.

　At that moment, she was sitting with Archbishop Harpagon Molière and others, and the two of them looked over at the same time.

　Dark immediately noticed the worry on the "Bloody Saintess's" face. Hayley Saint Meredith, whose age wasn't actually much older than the Valkyrie, now looked old and frail. Wrinkles clung to her once beautiful face, and even her eyes were rather dull, showing no trace of the sharpness she displayed in the dueling arena.

　As one of the heroes who made contributions on the battlefield second only to the Valkyries and Warriors, Hailey's current appearance always evokes a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, including nostalgia and reflection).

　But luckily.

　She drew Ergani.

　Dark was slightly tempted and couldn't help but smile. The Holy Church must be very troubled. After all, their opponent is Ergani.

　Even if the "Bloody Saintess" is very confident, she has no chance of winning against Ergani.

　"That's not bad."

　The professors nodded slightly.

　Let this good fortune be a gift to the hero. However…

　Dark turned around and asked, "Aren't you really going up to go through the motions?" Ergane gave him a very subtle glare, ignoring him. "Once you go up, you can't lose." Pandora raised her hand and pinched Dark's cheek.

　Dark tilted his head to create some distance and said, "I was just saying." He knew perfectly well why Ergani wasn't going up.

　It was just a casual question.

　While they were laughing and joking here, they were already lamenting incessantly there. (Hidden inside a private room.)

　The Pope and the Archbishop, among others, couldn't help but feel sorry for Hayley.

　But luck is also a factor in one's abilities, and there's no use in regretting it. They can only pray for a miracle.

　A little while later.

　The second duel began.

　This duel will be between Archbishop Harpagon Mauriat, ranked ninth in the preliminary rounds, and the final professional duelist, Stevie Matt.

　Before this duel, no one could have predicted that it would be so intense and ultimately become a battle between light and darkness!

　In the previous two rounds of duels, Abagon defeated the "Winter Sage" and a powerful alien, making the competition quite impressive.

　But Stilwell Matt is no pushover either. In his previous duels, he demonstrated the professionalism and skill of a seasoned duelist, winning spectacularly. However, in this third round of the qualifiers, Stilwell completely abandoned his previous deck system and switched to a DARK deck he had never used before.

　This deck revolves around the DARK attribute, connecting various different types of Spell Spirits, and supplementing them with Spell Cards for quick summoning and searching. The ultimate goal is to create a field that is most conducive to the performance of DARK Spell Spirits, and then quickly summon "God".

　That's right, Sturmmartet used the "God Card" in this duel!

　Moreover, that "God Card" is a Dark attribute Demon type!

　“Another 12-star Dark Attribute Demon type ‘God Card’,” Dark frowned slightly as he looked at the ‘God Card’ summoned by Stivemat.

　From the preliminary rounds to the qualifiers, a significant number of "god cards" have emerged in this World Cup. Aside from the lightning element, the dark element is the most prevalent.

　Furthermore, with Sturm Mart summoning this "God Card," the number of Dark "God Cards" has increased from three to four, making it the "God Card" attribute with the most appearances in this tournament.

　The same applies to demons.

　So far, the only Dark-type Demon "God Cards" to appear are: Adventurer Thompson's Dark/Fire dual-attribute God Card – [Fire Hell Demon].

　The Lich Sloan's Dark/Dragon dual-attribute Divine card—[Dragon of the Dead]

　Another professional duelist, Dijul, who was defeated by "Lich" Sloan, was...

　The God-Bound Card – "Demon Jester".

　And the Dark God Card that Stivemat, also a professional duelist, is using—"Cut the Demon"!

　...

　The "Demon of Blades" is slender with hands and feet as thin as longswords. Its body is completely bladed, its horns are curved like knives, and its wings spread out like countless swords. It is a demon with extremely high lethality and is extremely terrifying.

　Archbishop Harpagon Mauriat, who was facing him, used an "Angel" deck, with almost all of his high-level Magical Spirit cards composed of Angels of various types. However, his highest-level Angel was a Tier 5 Angel with only one [Rank +1].

　The Holy Church refers to this type of magical spirit card as "demigod cards." Moreover, within the entire Holy Church, there are only "demigod cards," and no "god cards."

　Although this seems a little unbelievable now that "God Cards" are everywhere.

　But it is true.

　The Holy Church has no "God" and no "God Card".

　All they possess now are numerous divine artifacts that are gradually regaining their original power.

　But magical artifacts can't be eaten.

　Faced with this situation, almost all the high-ranking members of the Holy Church understand that they are being abandoned by the times.

　If we do not find a way to deal with it immediately, the extinction of the Holy Church is not far off.

　That's why the Holy Church is so eager and attaches such importance to this World Cup, sending a large number of elite troops to participate.

　—It is precisely because they are weak that they are so eager to show their strength.

　The current situation of the Holy Church is so urgent.

　So.

　Archbishop Harpagon Mauriat knew he could not back down!

　After learning that the "Bloody Saint" Haley Saint Meredith's opponent was Ergane, Archbishop Molière became convinced that he was the only hope for the Holy Church.

　He must do everything he can to get into the main draw; he absolutely cannot fall in this third round of the qualifiers!

　Molière gritted his teeth and used the magic card "The Priestess of Isaac"! "The Priestess of Isaac" is an absolutely forbidden card in the Holy Church.

　But Molière had long been prepared to die trying.

　He used "Isaac's Sacrifice" to sacrifice a fifth-tier magical spirit, staining the angel red with "Isaac's Blood," which temporarily strengthened another fifth-tier angel, finally shattering Stivematt's "Blade Demon"!

　Although he used his spells secretly, concealing the truth of the "Isaac sacrifice" and making it impossible for the audience to guess, he himself could not overcome his mental barrier after using that forbidden card, and his face aged considerably in an instant.

　Amidst the cheers of believers, Molière, slightly hunched over, stepped down from the dueling platform.

　The last remaining professional duelist, Stevie Matt, collapsed to his knees as if he had lost his soul.

　Only after the referee repeatedly reminded him did he leave the dueling ring, looking utterly dejected.

　"Even if one gives one's soul to the devil, can one not regain glory?" From then on.

　All the professional duelists were wiped out.

　Louis Kennan's defeat. Stilwell's defeat.

　This further demonstrates the brutality of the qualifiers.

　They carried high expectations and aimed for the championship, but ultimately failed to advance beyond the qualifiers, which is truly regrettable.

　Players lounge.