"Come out, the strongest boss monster I can summon—the super-powerful monster that can shut down your spells with a single card!"
"Synchro Summon, Naturia Beast!"
Naturia Beast
Beast/Synchro/Effect/EARTH/Level 5
ATK: 2200; DEF: 1700
As he announced it, a rare beast with a tiger's head and body, its four limbs formed from trees, appeared on his field. The strange beast slightly turned its head to look at Dark Insect behind it, its eyes filled with disappointment and regret.
Youye wore a strange expression. Naturia Beast was the strongest boss monster? Had Naturia Barkion also been kicked out of the Naturia archetype?
However, Youye did not know that Naturia Barkion was too difficult to obtain. Even if one did obtain it, it was still very hard for a Naturia deck to summon. Over time, duelists Below Heaven-tier had long since ignored it.
Dark Insect naturally noticed none of this. As Naturia Beast took the field, a trace of satisfaction appeared on his gloomy face. The Black-robed Figure watching from the sidelines nodded slightly. With the ultimate weapon, Naturia Beast, on the field, the duel should be over!
This was not to say that Youye was weak. Runick was entirely Spells, and Youye's stickers did not include cards like Skill Drain. His deck was simply too heavily countered by Naturia Beast. If Youye had been using another deck, Dark Insect would never have thought this way.
Yet they failed to notice that when Munin, who had been watching all along, saw Naturia Beast appear, she was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, a mysterious smile appeared on her face.
"Bait out Naturia Beast, Chaos Hunter, Burn Damage!" Youye murmured as he understood why Dark Insect was said to be the opponent from Hangzhou most likely to defeat him.
That three-card combination truly would have made victory impossible for a normal Runick deck like Munin's earlier one.
Unfortunately, his deck was not a normal Runick deck. Even after Dark Insect summoned Naturia Beast, he still did not have the slightest chance of winning.
No matter how strong a primitive man was, what could he do with a knife? Could he contend against modern guns and artillery? Obviously not!
Then joy welled up in his heart. Dark Insect using the Naturia archetype was truly too wonderful. No, what was wonderful was that he was about to obtain the Naturia archetype. With Naturia added to his Runick deck, plus the cards he had gotten from the Duel Association, the main deck for Self-Runick would be complete. Aside from a few Extra Deck cards, it was nearly finished.
Dark Duelists really were such good people!
How satisfying was that?
"With your knowledge, you surely know Naturia Beast's effect. Are you scared now? Terrified? Are you racking your brains for a way to use Runick Spells or Continuous Spell stickers to protect yourself and bring out Baronne to deal with it?"
"Hahahahaha! Let me tell you clearly: impossible!"
"I'll negate every single one of your Spells. Don't even think about activating a single one! As for your monsters, starting with that little Saya, I'll crush them one by one. I won't give you any chance to Synchro Summon!"
"Just wait to be burned to death or beaten to death, then become one of us!"
Seeing Youye remain silent after Naturia Beast appeared, Dark Insect grew smug and even began declaring his victory.
"...I declare that I'm entering the Battle Phase. Due to self-restriction, I skip the Battle Phase. End turn!" Hearing him, Youye suppressed the joy in his heart and gave Dark Insect a pitying glance. He had only one Naturia Beast and was already talking about beating Saya to death. Just how much had he drunk to spout such nonsense?
"Hmph, keep acting proud for now. You won't have the chance to be proud later!" Seeing Youye momentarily distracted before looking at him with pity, Dark Insect's anger flared up again, and he snorted coldly.
"Sigh, you're about to lose and still don't realize it." Seeing him like this, Youye sighed softly. Then he slowly said, "Since your Naturia archetype will soon be mine, I'll give you a little hope!"
After speaking, Youye raised his left hand and spread it open. "Five cards. If I activate five Spell Cards and still can't deal with the Naturia Beast on your field, I'll immediately surrender and join you."
"Get my archetype right away? Hahahaha! In nearly fifty years, this is the first time anyone has said that to me!"
"Fine, it's decided. Even if you surrender, I won't accept it. I'll torture you and slowly drain all your LP!"
Upon hearing Youye's words, Dark Insect, who believed he held every advantage, laughed in fury. Even now, Youye was still this arrogant. He completely failed to treat him like a person!
What he did not know was that Youye really did not treat him like a person at all. He simply regarded him as a Coin Monster.
The Black-robed Figure lowered his head slightly, his green eyes watching Youye as though he were pondering something.
According to the intelligence, Youye was an extremely calm person. He should not be the type to bluff. Was he only saying this to make Dark Insect lower his guard and not negate anything? Obviously not!
If not, then what could it be? Could Saya's effect possibly banish Naturia Beast in one go?
If it could, Youye should have banished it long ago. There was no need to wait until now.
"My turn, draw!" Dark Insect glanced at his hand and licked his lips. He looked at Youye with a sinister gaze, his deep voice filled with mockery. "I'm going straight into the Battle Phase. Are you going to do anything? Go ahead, do whatever you want. The Naturia Beast on my field can't wait any longer!"
"I won't do anything. Continue." Youye smiled faintly, completely unconcerned by the mockery.
"Then let the weak monster on your field die!" Dark Insect revealed a cruel smile and gave the command. "I use Naturia Beast to declare an attack on the monster on your field!"
"I've been waiting for this! I activate the Quick-Play Spell in my hand, Slumber—" Youye's smile grew increasingly strange, but before he could finish, he was interrupted.
"Useless! I chain Naturia Beast's effect as Chain Link 2! I send the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard to negate and destroy your activated Slumber!" Dark Insect proudly announced, his expression twisted as though he could already see Youye's miserable, despairing defeat.
"Since you activated an effect, I chain as Chain Link 3—" Youye spoke again.
"Meaningless struggle! I chain as Chain Link 4—" Dark Insect laughed excitedly. The more Youye struggled, the happier he became. However, halfway through his words, he realized Naturia Beast had failed to chain successfully. His voice abruptly stopped.
When he looked closely, he discovered that Youye had not activated a Runick Spell at all, but the effect of the Link Monster on the field. He was rendered speechless with disbelief. "You didn't activate a Runick Quick-Play Spell? You activated this monster's effect instead?"
"That's right! I activated Saya's effect. Naturia Beast negates Spells, but it isn't a Triple Negate. It can't chain to Saya!" The corners of Youye's lips curled up slightly as he continued, "Saya's effect targets one monster on my field and one monster on the field to banish them. I target the Naturia Beast on your field and her. They are banished until the end of the turn!"
Upon hearing this, the heaviness in Dark Insect's heart caused by Saya's chain gradually eased.
They were only banished until the end of the turn, so Naturia Beast would return. He still had Main Phase 2 and the End Phase after his Battle Phase. What could Youye possibly do during that time? Summon a monster with a Runick Quick-Play Spell? Other than that, he could do nothing!
Besides, he had just drawn a Trap that negated monsters. He had thought it was a Trash Card, but it turned out to be perfectly useful. Once he set it, as long as Youye did not have a Runick Quick-Play Spell that destroyed Spells and Traps in hand, he would still have a firm grip on the advantage. That was the confidence Naturia Beast gave him.
At this moment, the green light in the Black-robed Figure's eyes flickered between bright and dim as he watched Youye.
When Youye activated Saya's effect just now, it had scared him into breaking out in a cold sweat. Once Naturia Beast was destroyed or banished, it would be almost impossible for Dark Insect to win.
Fortunately, everything was still under control. Youye's strength had exceeded their expectations somewhat, but not by much.
Effects resolved in reverse order: Chain Link 3, Saya's effect resolved successfully, banishing her and Naturia Beast; Chain Link 2, Naturia Beast's effect resolved successfully; Chain Link 1, Slumber lost its target and failed to resolve.
"My Battle Phase ends. I enter Main Phase 2, then set one card and enter the End Phase." Dark Insect had no other monsters in hand, so there was no way the Battle Phase could continue. After a simple setup, he declared the end of his turn. Then he looked at Youye. Before Naturia Beast returned, Youye would surely summon a Runick monster and then use Fountain for Draw Power. That would both keep him alive and let him make Saya next turn.
Just as they expected, Youye spoke.
"Wait. During your Main Phase 2, I activate Freezing Curses and choose to Special Summon a Runick monster. Come out, Munin!"
"Munin's effect when Special Summoned from the Extra Deck activates. I discard Runick Golden Droplet from my hand to search an in-archetype Continuous Spell. Immediately after that, I activate the effect of the Field Spell, Fountain, as Chain Link 2, targeting Runick Golden Droplet, Freezing Curses, and Slumber in the Graveyard!"
"Chain Link 2, Fountain's effect returns three and I Draw Three. Chain Link 1, I add the Continuous Spell Runick Allure from my deck to my hand."
Watching Youye gain so many cards, Dark Insect's expression turned solemn, while the Black-robed Figure's eyelid twitched slightly. The intelligence had mentioned this, but seeing it in person still made them feel it was utterly shameless. If Fountain's recycling could not be stopped and Youye was allowed to keep gaining cards, how could anyone even duel? They might as well surrender immediately.
This Runick archetype was truly both insidious and powerful!
However, what relieved them was that Youye summoning Munin meant he did not have Effect Veiler in hand and could not make Baronne with a Triple Negate.
After the effects resolved, Youye glanced at his hand. His gaze lingered briefly on the Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in his hand before he looked at Dark Insect and slowly said, "Start struggling. On my next turn, you'll lose your Last Hope!"
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon was about to take the field!
A three-thousand-word mega chapter. Holding out my bowl—please send some support data~
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