Kashtira Unicorn Appears!

Youye (8000 LP) vs Munin (8000 LP)

Munin chose to go first. Both players drew five cards. The duel began.

Youye had no effects to activate during the Standby Phase, so it went straight to Munin's Main Phase 1.

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Runick Allure! Each time either of us activates a Quick-Play Spell, you banish the top card of your Deck."

Munin immediately activated her Archetype's Continuous Spell. Observing the duel, Sheng Ning's eyes went dark. Having dueled Munin before, she knew exactly how annoying this card would be later. For a moment, she looked at Youye with a hint of worry and a headache.

If Youye's morale was broken by Munin, what would she do about recruiting him later?

Clearly, Munin didn't care about that. She made another move.

"I activate the effect of the Quick-Play Spell, Runick Flashing Fire, from my hand! I Special Summon one Runick monster from my Extra Deck to the Extra Monster Zone. I choose to Special—"

Just as she was about to continue, she was surprised to find that the turn priority had shifted to Youye. He had a card in his hand that could chain to her!

He had a Hand Trap!

Thinking this, her initial curiosity turned into excitement and anticipation. This was the first time she had faced a Hand Trap in a face-to-face duel.

Just then, Youye activated a chain.

"I chain Dimension Shifter from my hand as Chain Link 2 to your Runick Flashing Fire. Its effect activates when I have no cards in my Graveyard: I can send it to the Graveyard. Until the end of the next turn, all cards for both of us are banished instead of being sent to the Graveyard!"

"A Banish Hand Trap?"

Munin stared, completely bewildered.

She had dueled at least a thousand times in Master Duel, but how had she never seen this Hand Trap before?

Moreover, this card's effect applied to both players. That meant his cards would also be banished instead of sent to the Graveyard. Wasn't he afraid of this card's effect hindering himself?

Sheng Ning's brain was fried. Who among them wasn't afraid of being banished by Munin? Yet now there was a ruthless person whose single Hand Trap caused both players' cards to be banished.

But if you said it wasn't good, Youye's move certainly stalled Munin. The core of Runick was to recover Quick-Play Spells from the Graveyard with the Field Spell to draw cards and gain resources. Without recovery, the resource chain was naturally broken.

"Are you chaining?" Youye asked with a smile.

After he discarded Dimension Shifter, the turn priority returned to Munin. Clearly, she still had cards in her hand to chain.

Munin shook her head, choosing not to chain further.

Effects resolve in reverse order: Chain Link 2, Dimension Shifter's effect successfully activates; Chain Link 1, Runick Flashing Fire Special Summons Runick Wings - Hugin in face-up Defense Position. (Runick Flashing Fire is banished.)

"Since I activated a Quick-Play Spell, the effect of the Continuous Spell, Runick Tip, activates! I can banish the top card of your Deck!"

"Immediately chaining as Chain Link 2 to Hugin's Special Summon effect from the Extra Deck, I discard one card from my hand to activate its effect and add a Runick Field Spell to my hand! I discard Runick Dispelling from my hand!" (Runick Dispelling is banished.)

"Chain Link 2, Hugin's effect adds the Field Spell, Runick Fountain, to my hand. Chain Link 1, Runick Allure's effect banishes the top card of your Deck!"

Seeing her two cards banished while Youye only had one banished, Munin felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness. In the past, she was always the one banishing others. How was it that right at the start, before she even banished her opponent, she was the one getting banished?

And this would last for two turns. Next turn, she would face this situation again. For a moment, she didn't know if she should activate the Field Spell.

If she activated it and it was banished, searching for the Field Spell to start her plays would be a huge card disadvantage. But if she didn't activate it, she only had Hugin on the field to take hits, and she could very likely be OTK'd!

After some thought, she decided to Set a second copy of Runick Flashing Fire from her hand as a countermeasure.

The reason she didn't activate the Field Spell was that she didn't think Youye could OTK her when all cards would be banished, especially with a Special Summon that destroys and a defensive monster blocking attacks.

"My turn ends—wait, Scareclaw Kashtira? How does this card have two Archetypes?"

Just as Munin was about to declare the end of her turn, she curiously clicked on the card Youye had banished and was immediately shocked. Usually, cards only belonged to one Archetype. How could a card have two?

Upon hearing this, Sheng Ning looked at the card through Munin's device and was equally puzzled. Then, she looked at Youye with increasing caution. He was practically a monster; you never knew what he would pull out in the next duel!

"It's a secret." Youye smiled slightly, offering no explanation.

Whether it was this duel or future ones, until he got his Healthy Tearlaments in hand, he wasn't planning on fully exposing the effects of his Visas Starfrost cards.

While Scareclaw wasn't a big deal, if Kashtira was obtained by someone else, it could pose a threat to his Healthy Tearlaments. Although he was confident, he wasn't arrogant and wouldn't create unnecessary trouble for himself.

Of course, if he got the complete Ishizu Tearlaments, that would be a different story.

"Alright, it's your turn!"

Munin nodded and didn't ask further, planning to observe Youye's cards during the duel.

It was Youye's turn. He drew a card. Since Munin had no objections, it went to Youye's Main Phase 1.

"I activate the Field Spell, Primeval Planet Perlereino. Its activation effect allows me to add one Kashtira card to my hand. I choose to add Tearlaments Kashtira to my hand."

"Also, a reminder: the ATK and DEF of my monsters on the field increase by the number of different Attributes of monsters on the field x 100. This is a continuous effect!"

"Another dual Archetype!?"

As Youye completed his search, Munin's expression grew more serious. Because after Youye activated the Field Spell, she felt a threat for the first time in her life—a deadly threat. Every cell in her body was telling her to stay away immediately if they weren't allies!

Dangerous! Extremely dangerous!

Compared to Munin, Sheng Ning curiously looked at the card in Youye's hand. She knew Tearlaments was Youye's Archetype. This card, which fused Archetypes, was actually related to his main Archetype?

"This is probably the first time you've seen a Kashtira human and Spirit. I'll give you a treat and let you see one card's effect!"

"Come forth, Kashtira Unicorn!"

Kashtira Unicorn

[Psychic Type/Effect/Wind/Level 7]

[ATK: 2500; DEF: 2100]

Just then, Youye spoke. As he did, a monster appeared, holding a red spear, with two horns on its head, sharp spikes on its back, and a body colored red and black!

Despite being separated by computer screens, Sheng Ning and Munin felt as if they were seeing an ancient giant beast. Their faces paled slightly, and cold sweat began to bead on their hands and faces.

When they clicked on Unicorn's information, they were instantly too shocked to speak.

First, there was its first effect: Special Summoning itself with no specific timing. If there were no monsters on the field, it could Special Summon itself. Combined with its 2500 ATK, it was essentially an upgraded Cyber Dragon!

Its second effect was to search for an Archetype spell, once per turn by card name. An Archetype search was strong, but completely acceptable.

But when they saw the third effect, they were stunned. After the opponent activated a monster effect or declared an attack, once per turn by card name, it could look at the opponent's Extra Deck and banish one card from it face-down!

This was banishing face-down. Sheng Ning couldn't think of any way to recover cards banished like this for a moment, while Munin could only think of one or two specific recovery methods!

"Seriously? The duel rules allow a card like this to exist? Three effects, each more overpowered than the last, and no self-restriction at all. It just doesn't give other duelists any chance!"

After a while, Munin's expression was serious.

Note: While Munin's gender can sometimes be ambiguous, in this book, Munin is female. All card effects are consistent with the actual cards.