Hugin was just a vanilla monster; summoning her out was useless. It only cost her a non-targeting Monster Effect Negation for nothing. What a huge loss.
"It's fine. Whether that was a misplay or not, it wouldn't have changed the outcome," Youye's voice came through.
Ye Lingling only felt even more stabbed in the heart upon hearing that, but she did not deny Youye's words.
The only card in her hand was White Knight, which she had searched during her previous turn. She had no way to Special Summon it. And if he could not be summoned, then unless Fleurdelis drew a summonable in-archetype monster next turn, Special Summoning her would not grant her the additional effect of negating monster effects.
"Your hand is White Knight, and the cards in your Graveyard have no effects either. Then I'll move quickly while you have no interruptions," Youye said with a smile.
Ye Lingling nodded, though she was not too flustered yet. Based on the Extra Deck she had confirmed earlier, as well as the cards currently in Youye's Graveyard, she could determine that his Extra Deck contained Saya, Munin, Verte Anaconda, and Dragon Knight.
Even if he had drawn Red-Eyes Fusion from that draw-two effect, he had already summoned a monster this turn, so Red-Eyes Fusion could not be used.
?
That was what Ye Lingling had just thought, when Youye summoned Effect Veiler. He then used its effect to Link Hugin and Effect Veiler into Verte Anaconda. Verte Anaconda searched Red-Eyes Fusion, and then Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon took the field. Finally, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon destroyed her Fleurdelis, dealt her 2500 LP damage, and chose to end his turn.
Of course, it was not as though she had not considered activating the effect of Bystial Lubellion, which had been sent to the Graveyard by Great Divine Gate last turn. But would it have mattered? Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon had a once-per-turn Triple Negate, and Youye still had two cards in hand. Even if she used it, it would only be negated. Perhaps Youye had even deliberately sent a Runick Quick-Play Spell to the Graveyard so he could recover it and draw one more card next time. That would put her at an even greater disadvantage. It was better to keep it and see whether there was any hope left at the end.
What followed was cruel. Youye drew Pot of Desires, Set it, entered the Battle Phase, locked himself out, and ended his turn. Then, during Ye Lingling's Draw Phase, he activated it.
With Pot of Desires activated, Dogmatika Archetype, whose cards were almost entirely Spellcaster Type, was left facing Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. Ye Lingling trembled all over as she looked at Youye.
If it were only Dragon Knight, she would not have had no hope at all. But with another Pot of Desires added in, she could give up.
There was not even the slightest hope in sight, so she considerately Normal Summoned Ecclesia and activated her effect, allowing Youye to negate and destroy her. That increased Dragon Knight's ATK and let Youye kill her faster.
Two turns later, the duel ended with Dragon Knight's Direct Attack.
"Senior, how do you think I've mastered Dogmatika?" After the duel ended, Ye Lingling stared at Youye.
Youye considered it briefly before answering, "Your fundamentals are fine. You know to destroy the Extra Deck, but there are issues with the details of your searches. The biggest problem is that you don't defend against anything. If I had Nibiru in my hand, the moment it came down, you would have basically lost."
After saying that, Youye paused slightly, recalling the various measures from duel competitions in his previous life for playing around Ash Blossom, Nibiru, and Maxx "C." After another brief pause, he continued.
"A true duelist, especially when going first, must prepare sufficient countermeasures. Remember, sometimes having a big board doesn't mean you'll win."
"Senior, I've learned! I was wondering why it was so hard for me to reach Grandmaster Rank in Master Duel. Thinking back on it now, it was because I didn't play around anything!" Bai Yun'er answered.
Ye Lingling's face darkened as she inwardly complained, Is it possible that there are only a handful of people at the Mystic Rank who can even obtain hand traps?
Of course, she only complained inwardly, because Youye was right. The Earth Rank Master Duelists of her family had said the same thing before, except the family's duelists had merely pointed out that defending against everything was too difficult.
For example, against Nibiru, you had to establish a Monster Effect Negation within five summons. Against Raigeki, your end board needed a Spell/Trap Negation. There were many more similar situations.
But one had to understand that many archetypes' end boards did not even have a Triple Negate or Spell/Trap Negation, and their monster negations only targeted cards on the field. That was incredibly awkward. It was not that they did not want to defend against them; they simply could not.
Her Dogmatika Archetype was an example. Even if the opponent had Nibiru, she had no way to defend against it. At most, she could stop halfway through her plays and save resources for the next turn, ensuring that even if her board was broken, she would still have the ability to fight next turn. It was a problem with the archetype's own system. There was nothing she could do about it.
"Little Bai, you said Chengying was looking for me. Has he set a time?" Seeing that the two women had gone quiet, Youye did not dwell on the matter. Mainly because their skill levels were not high enough to achieve that. If they could, he would not mind saying more and getting some cards from them.
For now, he would first see what Chengying wanted. Of course, his goal was to obtain one of Chengying's Original Cards. Non-targeting banishment plus ATK reduction might not be useful with Stun Runick, but Self-Runick combined with Chengying often produced remarkable results.
"No, but Chengying said that once you arrived, we just needed to notify him." Bai Yun'er shook her head, then said, "I'll contact him. Please wait a moment, Senior."
"Senior, is there still a way for me to become stronger?" Seeing Bai Yun'er communicating with the spirit, Ye Lingling spoke up.
She had remembered Youye's words from earlier. Dogmatika could at most reach the Heaven Rank, which meant that even reaching the Heaven Rank was difficult. Barring anything unexpected, she would remain at the Earth Rank for the rest of her life.
As someone who dreamed of becoming a Heaven Rank, or even a legendary King Level Duelist, she found that outcome hard to accept.
But Youye's duel had just shown her the truth: one card had basically cleared her entire board. Faced with that naked reality, she could only accept it.
"I've already given you the answer. You know it," Youye said with a faint smile.
"Branded?" Ye Lingling fell silent. She was not an idiot. Youye had mentioned it before the duel, so naturally she had not forgotten. For a moment, she felt deeply conflicted.
Most of Dogmatika's spirits, especially its big brother, were not easy to deal with. If she handled it poorly and all the Dogmatika Archetype spirits stopped responding to her, that would be even worse.
"If you collect part of Branded, I can help you revise your deck build. On one condition—" Seeing Ye Lingling fall into thought, Youye naturally did not let go of this potential client from a great family and gave her a reminder.
Ye Lingling immediately understood and nodded seriously. "Once I obtain Branded cards, I'll definitely come find you, Senior!"
"Branded... Hahahaha! Little Bai, this senior you know really is extraordinary!" At that moment, a rough and hearty voice rang out. Along with it, Chengying appeared inside the duel room.
Youye looked at Chengying and noticed that unlike Munin, his body was illusory, like a virtual projection. Clearly, he was restricted by something.
"Is it strange that I know about Branded?" After examining him for a moment, Youye looked at Chengying and asked in return.
"Yes! Branded involves multiple archetypes, and their spirits account for more than half of our world's top-tier spirits." He paused slightly, as if he had sensed something. After glancing at Ye Lingling, he continued, "Take Dogmatika Archetype as an example. Those lunatics will not easily cooperate with people. Aside from them, the lunatics of Despair Land and most of the dragons of the Abyss are much the same."
"Unless a person or spirit conquers them through strength, it is impossible to obtain most of Branded's cards. I estimate that a few scattered cards are already the limit."
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