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

　Once again.

　Dark drew his "Blackfire Hellsword" and charged at his opponent without hesitation. General against general, soldier against soldier.

　Gods fight against gods. Man fights against man.

　Dark rushed across the halfway line and onto the opposite side, already wielding the "Blackfire Hellsword".

　When they were neither too close nor too far apart, he suddenly infused his magic power, causing the sword to ignite, and then slashed through the void. Instantly, a blade of fire shot out, but was blocked by Terence's magical spirit.

　But this is just for familiarization and experimentation.

　Dark suddenly unleashed a second fiery blade, going all out and doubling its power, instantly killing the magical elf on the spot.

　Terence's mind was in turmoil, and he immediately ordered his "god" to return to the defense.

　However, its "god" is already entangled by the "Fire Demon," unless it can summon a new "god card"!

　And he clearly thought so too, and had already begun planning to quickly summon the second "God Card".

　However, Dark's advance grew increasingly fierce, forcing Terence to hold his ground. "Boom!"

　Behind him, the massive body of the "Fire Demon" was knocked to the ground.

　Terence's summoned "god" actually gained the upper hand.

　Terence was overjoyed and immediately gave the order to have his "god" turn back his divine power and attack Dark from behind.

　However, Dak knew perfectly well what was going on and ignored it.

　Before that "god" could launch its attack, it broke through Terence's protective barrier at an extremely fast speed.

　He immediately shifted his position and moved behind Terence.

　Using Terence as a shield, the "god" he summoned had no way to attack. His melee talent became more and more prominent. The moment he passed Terence, he turned half a step back and slashed horizontally with his sword, cutting off a portion of Terence's health.

　When Terence realized what was happening and tried to escape, he blocked the way with his sword, swiftly slashing through the shield and ending the man's life.

　He wasn't given any chance to turn the tables. Only then did "Fire Demon" stand up again.

　The battle between gods remains unresolved. The battle between humans, however, is already over.

　Dark quickly won the battle and then took a "God Card" from Terence's deck.

　At this point, he also possessed three Dark-type Demon cards (God Cards).

　The ceremony continues.

　Players number four and six have advanced to the winners' bracket.

　Number 1 and Number 7 have fallen into the loser's bracket.

　Number 10 and Number 12 engage in a duel.

　Number 10 won, and number 12 lost.

　Number 13 and Number 15 engage in a duel.

　Number 15 won, and number 13 lost.

　Time flies, and it was already afternoon.

　Through special contact, Dak informed Laura of the various characteristics of the thirty-one people he had observed during the process, instructing her to mobilize intelligence personnel to intensify the investigation.

　He himself continued to participate. The second round of trials finally ended. The sixteen people were divided into a winners' group and a losers' group of eight. Then the losers' group went first, with the top four advancing from the bottom eight.

　Dusk falls, night falls.

　The ceremony proceeded steadily, and the duel continued. As the number of eliminated contestants increased, so did the number of witnesses.

　Dark clearly sensed that the atmosphere inside the "Dark Crystal Cave" had changed.

　The basic framework for the ceremony is complete!

　He was in the midst of the ritual, and felt a vague sense of enlightenment, as if he had grasped the direction of the ritual, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

　This led him to choose to continue.

　After the losers' bracket quarterfinals, it was time for the winners' bracket quarterfinals. Dark entered the arena; his opponent was number four, the wandering mage Dick! Dick excelled at fire magic and liked to use ignition spells to disrupt his opponents. However, Dark had anticipated this and extinguished the magical fire with his magical hand before it could ignite.

　Then, in a completely normal situation, number four Dick was no match at all.

　Darke advanced another round, increasing the number of "God Cards" in his hand from three to four.

　The night is getting darker.

　The day flew by, and many things became clear.

　Thirty-two people, including Thompson, who were given the "God Cards," were classified as "fallen" in the "Scorpio Palace" intelligence.

　Of these 32 fallen individuals, only one is confirmed not to have participated in the World Cup.

　However, he also registered and even entered Duel City, but he withdrew from Duel City not long after the preliminary rounds began and did not participate in a single duel.

　So it's actually hard to say whether he participated or not.

　But in any case, he chose to withdraw because of unforeseen circumstances.

　When his parents, wife, and children heard that he was going to participate in the World Cup, they all came with him.

　Unexpectedly, the night before the audition, my father suddenly fell ill and was sent to the hospital.

　He stayed up all night to accompany them, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was listless. He should have just given up on the World Cup.

　But for some reason, he arrived at the scene before the preliminary rounds began and still insisted on entering the Duel City.

　Although he withdrew shortly after the auditions began, he had at least made it through.

　While some say he insisted on participating because he was unwilling to give up, he never actually engaged in a single duel.

　It's like just going through the motions, completing an entry task.

　After leaving Duel City, he rushed to the hospital to accompany his father for further treatment until his condition stabilized.

　The behavior of this degenerate is clearly contradictory.

　A sudden, accidental event caused the "contradiction" to arise.

　The emergence of this "contradiction" highlights a certain "demand".

　After learning this information from Laura, Dak immediately understood.

　The "god" behind the scenes either created a total of thirty-two fallen individuals before the selection process began or during it.

　Not one more, not one less.

　These thirty-two Fallen Ones were not chosen randomly; they came from all walks of life, including commoners and nobles, humans and orcs, and one hidden half-elf and goblin dwarf.

　His only requirement for these thirty-two fallen men was to participate in the World Cup and win.

　From today's perspective.

　What he did then is no different from what he is doing now. And what he is doing now is merely a microcosm of what he did then. "But if what he did then took shape, what was the point of what he is doing now?"

　Suddenly, this idea popped into Dak's mind.

　"Does that degenerate who withdrew immediately after participating not count as having participated in the competition? Therefore, his plans in the World Cup failed, forcing him to scale back and repeat them today?"

Chapter 1580 Darkdemon's Illusionary Demon Technique (4k)

　Thinking of this, Dak suddenly realized something.

　The fact that "God" suddenly summoned thirty-two fallen ones to perform the ritual at this critical juncture is likely a forced action due to an unexpected turn of events in the plan.

　Otherwise, given that he had already spent so much time and effort planning to this extent, it would have been impossible for him to scale it down to today's level and reproduce it once again.

　Whether the "accident" was as I thought was still uncertain. But thinking about it this way, at least logically I had figured out a plausible explanation.

　So all that's left is to continue tracing his ultimate goal. Dark looked towards the field.

　As night deepened, the quarterfinals of the winners' bracket had concluded. The four players who fell into the losers' bracket in this round of duels joined the winners of the previous quarterfinals to form a new group of eight.

　The second round of the losers' bracket, the "eight-to-four" competition, continues.

　Now, only twelve of the thirty-two Fallen Ones remain, one of whom is a pseudo-Fallen One who merely possesses "black eyes".

　"I wonder what kind of changes my presence will bring to this ceremony."

　As Dak pondered the course of the ceremony, he couldn't help but feel curious, a hint of amusement showing on his face beneath the mask.

　As yet another duel ended, Dark suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and another idea came to mind.

　"If I were to ultimately win, how would this ceremony change?"

　Once the thought arose, it was accompanied by an extremely strong attraction that firmly held his mind.

　Regardless of the ultimate purpose of this ritual, the fallen one who ultimately triumphs will inevitably play the most crucial role in it.

　But what if the person in the most crucial position isn't a true fallen one, but rather a faker who has absolutely no connection to the truth?

　Thinking about this, my thoughts became increasingly complicated.

　Dark's gaze toward the field grew increasingly profound.

　Within the "Dark Crystal Cave," a mysterious will emerges, driving the ritual forward, relentlessly advancing towards a certain endpoint.

　late at night.

　The second round of the losers' bracket, "eight to four," has ended, with 7+1 players remaining.

　Among the 7+1 people, the most eye-catching, besides Darke dressed as "Thompson," are Deejou and Stilwell.

　These two professional duelists, who rose to fame during the World Cup qualifiers, still displayed remarkable performances in this ritual duel.

　Yudir's mask had already shattered during the duel, revealing his true identity.

　Although Stilwell still wears a mask, to Dark, his mask is "proof of identity," revealing his true identity perfectly.

　Stilwell's number was ten, and he successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the winners' bracket.

　Yudir's number was 13, and he fell into the loser's bracket in the winners' bracket round of 16. But he went on to win all the way and made it to the top four in the loser's bracket.

　The winners' bracket will advance from four to two.

　Dark stepped onto the field. His opponent in this round was number ten, the Fallen, Stilwell Matt!

　Stilwell Matt reached the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, just one step away from the final sixteen, making him the furthest-running duelist among the thirty-two Fallen Ones.

　He was extremely skilled and adept at dueling. Although his God Card, "Cut the Demon," was a false god, it was still very powerful. He was just a hair's breadth away from helping Stilwell defeat Archbishop Harpagon Mauriat.

　Archbishop Molière would have won if he hadn't recklessly used the forbidden card "The Priest of Isaac".

　An opponent like this is not someone who can be easily defeated. But judging from his previous duels, Dark noticed that his spirit and energy had been completely depleted. The madness that had arisen from the loss of reason was barely sustaining his will and soul, and he was completely unable to unleash the peak strength he had at his prime.

　However, he has also acquired three new God cards, some of which may be well-suited to his system, so he should not be underestimated.

　However, after a moment's thought, Dark decided to use Thompson's deck. Thompson's deck was still quite strong at this point. The main reason was that it was indeed quite good at quickly summoning minions.

　Moreover, two of the three "God Cards" that Dark obtained from other Fallen Ones are quite compatible with this deck.

　When "Fire Demon" is no longer the only "God Card" that fits perfectly, the strength of this deck will rise to another level.

　When facing Stilwell, Darke composed himself and acted cautiously.

　As the battle unfolds, both sides automatically shuffle their cards and enter the "Preparation Phase 2". Each player draws five cards and then enters the "Battle Phase".

　In that instant, Stilwell sprang into action!

　He charged straight toward Dak at an extremely fast speed.

　During this rapid movement, the magic cards in his hand glowed, and the high speed did not affect the summoning at all.

　The battle has only been going on for three seconds, so there's no need to worry about being attacked. Even while moving, you can fully concentrate on casting your normal summoning spells.

　Dark's gaze fell on him, but he himself remained motionless, steadily casting a summoning spell to summon the magic card in his hand.

　—This magic card is still the field card "Demon Volcano"! Starting with "Demon Volcano" is the most comfortable system for Thompson's deck.

　Dark knew that the summoning was complete and the ground was deformed, so he suddenly moved! This was because a layer of armor had appeared on Stilwell's body.

　In his first summon, he surprisingly chose the "Armed Card"!

　The main reason why "Armed Cards" are restricted in the World Cup is because of the tournament rules brought about by the existence of "Life Cards".

　However, in this ritual, the existence of the "Life Card" is just an extra layer of life shield, and the advantage of the "Armed Card" is further enhanced as a result.

　Stilwell is a veteran duelist. After receiving the blessing of the "God", his physical strength was greatly enhanced. Combined with his most proficient Fighting-type card deck, he can form a relatively perfect defensive and offensive synergy with Fighting-type Magical Spirits.