"You're the one who should be trying harder!" Looking at the three crimson cards in his hand, the cold smile on Dark Insect's lips grew increasingly sinister. With that, he drew.
After glancing at the card he had drawn, Dark Insect looked at Youye with even greater coldness and excitement. In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Do you have any? Pointless question. You crippled yourself by giving up Monster Hand Traps, and I've locked down your Runick Quick-Play Spells. Even if you had objections, you couldn't do anything."
Youye smiled faintly. He was neither angry nor did he deny it. Right now, he truly did not have a single card he could use, but whether he had crippled himself was not for Dark Insect to decide.
"I set three cards and end my turn. Now it's your turn to struggle slowly." Dark Insect glanced at his hand, set three cards, and chose to end his turn.
It was Youye's turn. He drew, then drew two more through Magic Eye's effect. Looking at the Infinite Impermanence he had drawn, he found the combination with the Brilliant Flame in his hand somewhat underwhelming. He had added Effect Veiler and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to his deck in order to make Saya, Baronne, and Verte Anaconda, yet he had not drawn either of them. Instead, he had drawn Impermanence.
Just then, Dark Insect's deep, smug voice rang out. "During your Draw Phase, I activate my set Built-in Machine Gun! It inflicts damage equal to the total number of cards on your field and in your hand times 200. You have six cards in total, so you take 1,200 damage!"
Youye LP: 8000→6800
Countless bullets rained down on Youye. Just as he thought he would feel pain, imperceptible ghosts appeared within the Black Mist around him. The ghosts blended into the mist and blocked the bullets for him, leaving him unable to feel the slightest pain.
No one noticed this scene, not even the spirits, including Munin.
Watching Youye get covered by bullets, Dark Insect eagerly anticipated seeing Youye panic, fear, and tremble from the pain. The thought made him even more delighted.
But he discovered that there was none of that in Youye's eyes or expression. Youye simply looked at him calmly, as though asking, Are you done with your burn damage? If you are, then it's my turn.
"Hmph. Your Life Points are still high, so you can keep pretending to be tough. Let's see if you can keep that expression later!" Seeing Youye like this, Dark Insect snorted in confusion, assuming Youye was merely enduring it and putting on airs.
"Then I'll activate Fountain, set one card, and if you have nothing else to do, I'll end my turn." Youye was somewhat puzzled. He had not been forcing himself to endure anything, but he did not explain. He went straight to the Main Phase, activated one card, set one card, and ended his turn.
"???"
"Wait, you drew Impermanence on your second turn?"
Seeing Youye directly activate Fountain and set a card, Dark Insect might have wanted to see Youye suffer, but the calculations in his mind had never stopped. He naturally understood that this meant Youye had set Infinite Impermanence, still had Brilliant Flame in hand, and would break through his Chaos Hunter next turn.
"Yeah. Actually, I could have shown you something even more interesting, but heaven isn't cooperating." Youye sighed, his face full of regret.
"Something even more interesting?" Dark Insect looked at Youye in confusion, a bad feeling rising in his heart.
Besides, why did he feel like Youye had not been locked down at all? Rather, Dark Insect himself had been restricted because his burn-damage-focused deck could only draw one card and use one card at a time.
The black-robed figure, who had been watching all along, remained silent. He also sensed that Youye was not bluffing. He really did have another card up his sleeve.
Just as he began worrying that this might lead to a reversal, he saw the almost imperceptible lift at the corner of Dark Insect's mouth. In that moment, he seemed to understand something. Not only did his concern vanish, but beneath his black robe, the corners of his mouth began to rise uncontrollably.
If Dark Insect was the most suitable opponent for Youye, then naturally he could not be relying on just Chaos Hunter from the Chaos archetype. Dark Insect's original archetype was extremely effective against Runick; Chaos Hunter was merely an extra.
"Mm, I drew it." Youye nodded without hiding anything. There was nothing to hide, after all. He was not afraid of his set Impermanence being destroyed. If this stalemate continued, he had far too many ways to win.
Old-era toxic burn decks and new-era mainstream toxic lockdown decks were simply not on the same level. The difference in deck power between them was enormous.
"..." Seeing how calm Youye was, without even the slightest joy at drawing a card that could break the situation, veins immediately bulged on Dark Insect's face. He nearly crushed his teeth from gritting them.
The last time he had been looked down on like this was when he faced a Heaven-level Duelist. Yet Youye was merely a newly certified Yellow-level Duelist with slightly more dueling knowledge. Was he acting so calm just because his Master Duel rank was a little higher!?
"My turn, draw!" After seeing the card he had drawn, Dark Insect glanced at it, then turned his gaze toward Youye.
Youye grinned and slowly said, "I activate my set Infinite Impermanence, targeting the Chaos Hunter on your field!"
Dark Insect did not resist or chain anything. He chose to let it resolve.
Youye was slightly surprised by that. There were three unknown cards in the Backrow, yet not one of them chained. After considering what they might be, he continued, "You know Fountain's effect, so I won't explain it. I activate the Quick-Play Spell Brilliant Flame in my hand, targeting the Chaos Hunter on your field. Destroy her, then banish two."
"Fountain's effect activates. I return Dispelling Curse and Brilliant Flame from the Graveyard to the deck, then shuffle back two and draw two."
"Go on~" After looking at his hand, Youye extended a hand, signaling that it was Dark Insect's turn.
"I set one and end my turn!" Dark Insect's face darkened. He was using a burn-damage-focused deck built around red cards. Other than setting cards, what else could he do?
But Youye would not be happy next turn. Dark Insect had already made his preparations. Youye was nothing more than prey trapped in his web!
"My turn, draw two!" Seeing that he had drawn Effect Veiler this time, Youye narrowed his eyes slightly. Since Dark Insect had no response, he went directly to Main Phase 1 and Normal Summoned the Effect Veiler in his hand.
The excitement returned to Dark Insect's face. He had no idea why Youye was summoning Effect Veiler, but that did not stop him from dealing Burn Damage!
"I activate my set Trap Card, Just Deserts! For every monster on your field, you take 500 LP damage. You have two monsters, so you take 1,000!"
"Then, I chain another Just Deserts as Chain Link 2!"
Effect resolution: Chain Link 2 Just Deserts activated successfully; Chain Link 1 Just Deserts activated successfully; Youye LP: 6800→4800!
"Kid, your LP is down to just over half now. Are you scared!?"
Having cut away 2,000 LP in one go, Dark Insect became excited and smug once more.
"...I was wondering this just now. You only dealt this much LP damage. What's there to be proud of?" Youye looked at the smug Dark Insect in confusion.
He had dealt 3,200 burn damage in six turns. Before he had crossed over, not to mention the once-mainstream burn deck Trickstar, even ordinary burn decks would probably be mocked to hell in duelist chat groups if they claimed to have dealt only 3,200 damage in six turns.
How bad did someone have to be to deal only 3,200 burn damage in six turns?
"Hehe. I know you're at least Grandmaster Rank in Master Duel. You understand archetype combinations and deckbuilding better than I do, you understand all kinds of combo lines better than I do, and you understand the Dueling Rules better than I do. In a normal duel, I probably wouldn't be your opponent!" Dark Insect sneered and spoke slowly. He paused slightly after finishing, then declared firmly—
"But you don't understand burn damage. You simply don't understand that, in this situation, the damage I've dealt is already nearly the fastest possible."
"...Awesome. Whatever makes you happy." Hearing Dark Insect say that with such certainty, Youye could not hold it in any longer. Another person living entirely in his own world.
He did not intend to waste words on Dark Insect. He planned to first clear the Backrow that Dark Insect had not touched all this time, then transition into Verte Anaconda, make Dragon Knight, and end the duel.
"I use Effect Veiler and Hugin as Link Materials, Link Summon, Link-2 S:P Little Knight! Since Hugin, used as Link Material, was a Fusion Monster, S:P Little Knight's first effect upon Link Summon activates. I target and banish a set card in your Backrow, then I place myself under the restriction of being unable to Direct Attack!"
"Oh? A new card?" Neither Dark Insect nor the black-robed figure had received any information about S:P Little Knight, so they did not know of her existence. Yet the corners of both their mouths were already harder to suppress than an AK.
Youye's move was about to bring out the monster that would truly crush his deck with a single card!
"The card you banished is my true trump card, the Trap Card Stirring the Snake! When this set card leaves the field due to an opponent's effect and is sent to the Graveyard or banished, its effect activates. Special Summon one monster from my Deck or Extra Deck."
"What I summon is the strongest endboard monster of my Naturia archetype!"
Brothers, please give me some data and keep reading. I didn't update for a day, and people in another group said I hadn't even received a single tip, claiming my stats were faked. I'm losing it.
Before you continue