You chose Mu Ning as your partner, right?

Chang Xingge wasn't deaf, nor did she consider herself stronger than Youye. Hearing Wang Cheng and Luo Hao's words, she fell into thought.

She only knew from records that Luo Hao had lost to Munin in a duel; she didn't know the details of the duel itself, much less the effects of the Runick cards.

After nearly ten seconds of fruitless contemplation, she decisively drew a card.

Does it matter what Youye's setup is? Is it important? Yes, it's important, but no matter what Youye's setup is or how strong he is, as a duelist, her goal is singular: win this duel!

"Straight to Main Phase 1, any objections?" Chang Xingge took a deep breath and asked.

"Please!" Youye extended his hand, indicating he had none.

"Since I have no face-up cards on my field, I can activate the Normal Spell, Lightning Storm! I choose to destroy all Spell/Trap cards on your field!"

Chang Xingge immediately activated the infamous "board wipe" from her previous life.

Youye was slightly surprised by this but didn't stop his hand movements.

"Due to the effect of the Field Spell, Runick Fountain, I can use Runick Quick-Play Spells during your turn. Therefore, I Chain 2 to your Lightning Storm, targeting Munin on my field with the Quick-Play Spell Runick Slumber from my hand! This prevents Munin from being destroyed by battle or card effects this turn, and you banish the top three cards of your Deck!"

Neither side chained further, and the effects resolved: Chain 2, Runick Slumber, successfully activated; Chain 1, Lightning Storm, destroyed all Spell/Trap cards on Youye's side.

"Trying to keep the monster? Use her to recover LP?" Chang Xingge murmured softly upon seeing this, then a slight smile appeared on her face.

Keeping the monster was fine, but if he wanted to recover LP, he'd have to see if her Hieratic effects agreed!

However, she didn't know that the moment she smiled, everyone else present, including Youye and the Spirit Munin, showed knowing smiles, watching her build her board.

"I Normal Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum. Then I set his Link Arrow (↓) and Link Summon the Link-1 Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres."

"With the first effect of Parallel eXceed from my hand, when I Link Summon, I can Special Summon him to a Link Point. Come forth, Parallel eXceed! Then his third effect activates, reducing the Level of this Special Summoned card to 4."

"Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres' effect activates when a monster is Special Summoned to its Link Point. I add a Hieratic archetype monster card from my Deck to my hand. Immediately after, I Chain 2 to Parallel eXceed's Summon/Special Summon effect and Special Summon another Parallel eXceed from my Deck!"

Effects resolved: Chain 2, Parallel eXceed's effect Special Summoned another Parallel eXceed; Chain 1, Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres' effect added Hieratic Seal of the Ash Blossom to her hand.

"I set the Parallel eXceed at the Link Point and Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres as Link Arrows (↑↓) and Link Summon the Link-2 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

"The common first effect of the lower-Level Hieratic archetype monsters allows them to be Special Summoned in Defense Position to a Link Point of a Link Monster I control. Therefore, I Special Summon Hieratic Seal of the Ash Blossom from my hand in Defense Position to Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's Link Point."

"Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's third effect, when a monster is Special Summoned to its Link Point, allows me to search for a Hieratic archetype Spell card from my Deck and add it to my hand. Then I Chain 2 to Hieratic Seal of the Ash Blossom's effect, when this card is Summoned/Special Summoned to the Link Zone, targeting Hieratic Dragon King of Atum in the Graveyard!"

Effects resolved: Chain 2, Hieratic Seal of the Ash Blossom's effect added Hieratic Dragon King of Atum from the Graveyard to her hand; Chain 1, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's effect added the Field Spell Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres to her hand.

"I use the Parallel eXceed on the field and the Link-2 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis as Link Arrows (↑) and Link Summon the Link-3 Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

The moment Chang Xingge's card landed on the Duel Disk, a centaur over three meters tall appeared. The upper half of the centaur wore blue armor and wielded a long sword in its right hand, standing at the forefront, looking at Youye.

Youye, seeing this, maintained his usual faint smile. Chang Xingge's immediate Lightning Storm had actually given her a chance to win, provided her combo wasn't formulaic and her next draw was bad. Unfortunately, the combo was too formulaic, and the chance was gone.

Chang Xingge also noticed Youye's continued calmness, and her expression slightly darkened. After confirming her moves were correct, she finished her final setup.

"At Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's Link Point, I Special Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum and Beast from my hand in Defense Position. Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's continuous effect increases the ATK of monsters at its Link Points!"

"Next, I activate the effects of Hieratic Dragon King of Atum and Beast, targeting Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis. Hieratic Dragon King of Atum allows Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis to inflict double Battle Damage this turn, and Beast grants Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis Piercing Battle Damage!"

"Finally, I activate the Field Spell Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, increasing Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's ATK by 500 points!"

Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's ATK: 2000 → 5300!

"Enter Battle Phase! I attack Munin on the field with Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

At her command, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis galloped towards Munin, swinging its right-hand sword down onto Munin, as if to cleave her in two. However, with a faint flash of white light, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis dealt no damage to Munin.

Seeing this, Chang Xingge's expression remained unchanged. She slowly said:

"Munin is protected by Slumber, but your LP, Senior, is not protected by Slumber! Take the Piercing Damage from Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis!"

Youye's LP: 9000 → 2400!

Seeing Youye's LP drop below three thousand, Chang Xingge breathed a sigh of relief. Although it wasn't an OTK, her biggest worry was that Youye had some Hand Trap to block this significant LP reduction. After all, she was aware that she wouldn't have another opportunity for such a large reduction.

"I enter the End Phase!" After glancing at her hand, Chang Xingge made no further moves and declared the End Phase.

"Wait, during your End Phase, I activate Munin's effect to recover 1000 LP!" Youye spoke, then looked at Chang Xingge.

Chang Xingge noticed Youye's gaze, knowing he was asking if she would chain.

For a moment, she hesitated because something felt off, very off.

Firstly, the Runick archetype, which had defeated the Earth-level Duelist部长, hadn't shown the power she expected. Secondly, everything was proceeding according to her plan, which was extremely strange, as if Youye were the newcomer and she were the senior.

After half a minute of deep thought, she still chose to chain. Regardless, she couldn't let Youye recover the LP she had worked so hard to reduce.

"I Chain 2 to Munin's effect, Tribute Hieratic Dragon King of Atum on the field, and activate Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis's third effect targeting Munin on your field to negate her effect!"

At her words, Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis on the field pointed its long sword to the sky, and countless chains descended from the sky, binding Munin.

"You targeted Munin, did you?" Youye's mouth curved into a mischievous smile.

"Oh no!" Seeing Youye's expression, how could Chang Xingge not realize she had been tricked? But it was too late now; there was no going back in a formal duel. Now it was time to see how Youye would counterattack!

"I Chain 3 to Munin's second effect! When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect that targets a Runick card on my field is activated by my opponent, I can banish this card from the field to negate its activation and destroy it!"

At Youye's command, Munin vanished from the field, leaving behind black feathers that shot towards Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis with a swooshing sound.