Duel! Begin!

Duel City duels originated from an ancient civilization. They were a special method of monster summoning, using the cards in one's hand to summon the spirits of monsters for battle. Monsters could also be combined with the Magic Cards and Trap Cards within the deck. Under normal circumstances, both sides had a certain amount of PL, and when one side's PL reached zero, the battle ended...

As Xiao Wen recalled the information about Duel City, he suddenly felt his blood begin to boil.

In his memories, the profession of summoner had always involved traditional summoning. A unique summoning method like Duel City's was truly something he had never seen before.

But precisely because of that, he found it even more interesting.

"Duel, begin!"

A clear voice rang out beside him. Looking over, he saw a little girl with a disk strapped around her wrist. As her voice fell, the disk split open, extending into a rectangular outer panel that curved inward at the fist end, forming a triangular shape.

This was a Duel Disk!

Standing opposite Xiao Wen was an exquisitely dressed little girl. Her doll-like face made people want to kiss her cheeks.

"NPC · Sona."

"Duel, begin!" Xiao Wen said.

Light flickered around his wrist as the gifted Duel Disk appeared on the back of his hand, with the gifted deck placed in the center of the disk.

Both sides drew five cards from their decks. Both players had 4000 PL.

Monster Card Kuriboh, Monster Card Kuriboh, Monster Card Cat Ear Tribe, Magic Card Fusion, Trap Card Mystical Space Typhoon.

After glancing at the five cards in his hand, Xiao Wen stared at Sona and silently considered his strategy.

"I'll go first. My turn, draw!" Sona cried sweetly. The moment she said "draw," a fiery gleam flashed through her eyes. She pressed the pad of her middle finger against the deck and drew a card!

"<(￣ˇ￣)/" Sona.

"Hehe, looks like your luck is really bad, rookie duelist."

Sona thought as she flipped over a card from her hand, revealing it—Hermit's Poison.

Hermit's Poison · Quick-Play Magic Card.

Effect:

Choose 1 of the following effects to activate.

① Recover 1200 PL.

② Inflict 800 damage on your opponent.

"I choose to inflict eight hundred points of damage on my opponent."

The Magic Card in Sona's hand flashed, forming an ink-black bottle in the air above Xiao Wen's head. The bottle tipped over, and black smoke drifted down onto Xiao Wen. A searing pain struck him as his soul was corroded in that instant. He clutched his head with both hands and screamed.

"Ah..."

"Hmph! You can't even endure this little pain, and you still want to inherit the will of the Pharaoh King? Wishful thinking!" Sona sneered coldly at Xiao Wen.

At the same time, she played a Monster Card from her hand.

"I summon Flame Manipulator in Defense Position!"

"At the same time, I set one card and end my turn!"

Sona played two cards in succession. When the Monster Card was placed into the Duel Disk, a cluster of flames suddenly rose around them, transforming into a man wearing a blue headscarf.

He crouched on one knee, his arms crossed protectively before his chest.

Flame Manipulator · Spellcaster/Fire. ATK: 900; DET: 1000. On the first turn, the player going first normally could not attack, while the player going second could. However, if he wanted to attack the player directly, he had to deal with the monster in front of him first.

Recovering from the pain of his corroded soul, Xiao Wen recalled the rules of Duel City, and a blazing fire ignited in his eyes.

"This kind of summoning duel is just too interesting!"

"My turn, draw!"

Monster Dice · Trap Card.

"In that case..."

Xiao Wen added the Trap Card to his hand, then took out another card, flipped it over, and revealed it.

"I summon Kuriboh."

Light flowed across the card, transforming into a golden little dragon with a pair of small wings on its back and sharply defined muscles all over its body.

Kuriboh · Dragon race/Wind. ATK: 1200; DET: 700.

"Kuriboh, attack Flame Manipulator! Smash him!"

With a sweep of Xiao Wen's hand, Kuriboh let out a long roar in the air and charged toward Flame Manipulator.

Its 1200 attack was more than enough to destroy Flame Manipulator, whose defense was only 1000.

"Naive." The mocking smile on Sona's face only deepened. "Flip my Face-down Card! Magic Cylinder!"

"Magic Cylinder is a Trap Card. When an opponent's monster declares an attack, it negates that monster's attack and inflicts damage equal to that monster's attack on the opponent."

"So you'll have to bear your own monster's attack!"

The Trap Card flipped open, and two enormous cylinders appeared on the field. Kuriboh, which had been charging toward Flame Manipulator, was sucked into one cylinder and shot out from the other, rushing toward Xiao Wen. It clenched its dragon claws into fists and punched Xiao Wen, sending intense pain crashing through his body and mind.

His PL dropped by another 1200. He now had only 2000 PL remaining.

In just the first turn, half of his PL had been cut away. That alone showed how troublesome his opponent was.

Yet even so, Xiao Wen was not discouraged in the slightest. Instead, he could clearly feel his long-dormant blood beginning to boil at that moment!

"Impressive! Is this what battling in Duel City is like? I'm looking forward to it more and more."

The corners of Xiao Wen's lips lifted, revealing a stubborn smile. He drew a card from his hand and placed it in his back row.

"I set one card and end my turn."

Sona drew a card with practiced movements. When she saw its contents, the smile on her face grew even broader.

"Looks like your luck really is terrible. I drew this Monster Card."

"I summon Kycōr!"

The card turned into a streak of light, revealing a massive dark-green mantis with scythe-like forelimbs.

Kycōr · Insect/Wind. ATK: 1500; DET: 800.

"Kycōr, attack Kuriboh! At the same time, Flame Manipulator switches to Attack Position."

Flame Manipulator, who had been kneeling on one knee, stood up. At the same time, Kycōr flapped its wings and flew out, charging toward Kuriboh.

"As long as I destroy the monster on your field, you're guaranteed to lose next turn!"

Xiao Wen watched Kycōr charge in with cold eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.

"Is that so? You're celebrating too soon! Open my Face-down Card, Trap Card—Monster Dice!"

The Face-down Card opened, and a pitch-black bat appeared, its forelimbs wrapped around a huge blood-red die.

Monster Dice:

Effect: Roll a die once. Until the end of the turn, the ATK and DET of the opponent's monsters decrease by the rolled number × 100.

The bat tossed the die into the air. It spun rapidly before coming to a stop, with six facing upward.

"Looks like my luck isn't as bad as you said."

The dark-red die turned into a scarlet beam that poured into Kycōr and Flame Manipulator. Both monsters' attack and defense abruptly dropped by six hundred points.

Nine hundred attack against twelve hundred?

Wasn't that just a moth flying into the flame?

"Kuriboh, counterattack!"