Duelists Never Surrender!

Skull King: ATK 2000 → 4000!

"What a shame," the man sighed. "If your monster were in attack position, this Duel would already be over."

Indeed, in a way, Flashy Track Star had a similar principle to Skull King. Skull King's ATK increased based on the number of "Bone" monsters in its graveyard, while Flashy Track Star's ATK increased based on its Level. Because it had already used its effect, the originally Level 7 Flashy Track Star had become Level 5, with its ATK dropping to 1500.

As he spoke, the man began doing his favorite thing: observing his opponent's expression.

Yes, his favorite thing was to summon his Ace Monster, Skull King, and then admire his opponent's look of despair.

However, something unexpected happened. The young Duelist before him not only showed no fear or despair but seemed remarkably... calm?

No, no, no, he must be too stunned to make a facial expression! This was a monster with 4000 ATK, even higher than Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

Thinking this, the man sighed regretfully again. What a pity, he didn't get to see what he wanted. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "I enter the Battle Phase. Skull King, attack Flashy Track Star!"

Hara Shichi looked at Skull King charging onto his field and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He had thought that anyone daring enough to risk their soul in a Dark Duel must have some sort of backup. He had expected a highly skilled Duelist, but...

"Is that it?"

Hara Shichi expressionlessly opened his Set Card. "I Chain the activation of the Quick-Play Spell Card—Book of Moon."

"Targeting Skull King on your field, I change it to face-down Defense Position."

Chapter 70: "Substitute Soul"

"What?!"

The man froze. Before he could react, Skull King on the field had already turned into a Set Card.

"Book of Moon... Tsk, what lucky timing," the man frowned, but quickly regained his composure from his initial panic.

Although Skull King's DEF was 0, it possessed a revival effect: "When this card is sent to the Graveyard by battle, you can banish 1 'Bone' or 'Skull King' monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon this card." And the opponent's Flashy Track Star only had a meager 1500 ATK. After revival, Skull King would still have 3000 ATK, even with one less "Bone" monster!

"I end the Battle Phase and enter Main Phase 2. Then, I'll set one card and end the Duel."

"Then, it's my turn. Draw." Hara Shichi drew a card. Looking at his hand, he made a swift decision.

"Let's finish this quickly. I'm a bit worried about the others," Hara Shichi said to Ai.

"Mhm, let's end the Duel this turn," Ai nodded.

"Then, I enter my Main Phase," Hara Shichi said, placing a card from his hand onto his Duel Disk. "I perform a Normal Summon: Madolche Mille-Feu Cat!"

The pink plush cat reappeared on the field after a long absence. It tilted its head and meowed, calling out Madolche Owl from Hara Shichi's hand.

"I activate Mille-Feu Cat's effect: Special Summon Madolche Owl from my hand."

"Not so fast! I Chain the activation of Torrential Tribute, to destroy and banish your Madolche Owl." The man opened his Set Card. The Owl, which hadn't even stabilized yet, stumbled as a bottomless pit suddenly appeared beneath its feet.

"Did you forget something?" Hara Shichi said calmly. "I Chain the effect of Flashy Track Star, lowering its Level by 2, to negate and destroy Torrential Tribute."

"Tsk, so troublesome." The man finally realized the trouble this Synchro Monster posed. Although its ATK and DEF weren't outstanding, its simple and brute-force disruption and protection capabilities demanded attention.

"Next, I activate Madolche Owl's effect: banish Madolche Puddingcess from my Graveyard to Special Summon Madolche Mailman from my Deck. Then, I activate Mailman's effect: add Madolche Ticket from my Deck to my hand." As soon as Hara Shichi received Madolche Ticket from his Deck, he inserted it directly into his Duel Disk. "I activate Madolche Ticket."

"Then, I Overlay Mille-Feu Cat and Madolche Owl on my field. With these two monsters forming an Xyz Network, I Xyz Summon—Void Sea Dragon Levaiathan!"

"Xyz... Xyz Summon?!" The man instinctively took a step back, his eyes fixed on Void Sea Dragon that appeared on the field. Cold sweat immediately broke out. "Who are you?! Why do you use Xyz Summon?!"

"Hm? Just a regular Duelist," Hara Shichi glanced at Ai beside him, silently adding in his mind—even if I'm cheating.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

He must have run into one of those monsters trained by the Duelist families!

"Listen... how about we make a truce?" The man's arrogant expression quickly changed.

"A truce? Isn't a Dark Duel impossible to end once it begins?" Hara Shichi asked curiously.

"But, but you're a child of one of those big families, you must have something like 'Substitute Soul' on you, right?" the man forced a smile.

"What's that? I've never heard of it," Hara Shichi frowned.

"Don't play dumb with me!" the man roared. "Sealing human souls into 'Artifacts' as insurance for Dark Duels, isn't that commonplace in your big families?!"

"Sorry, I think you might have misunderstood something," Hara Shichi looked at the man indifferently. "I am not the child of any Duelist family; I am just an ordinary Duelist."

Saying this, Hara Shichi unhesitatingly detached one material from Void Sea Dragon. "I activate Void Sea Dragon's effect: by removing 1 Xyz Material, I can target 1 monster with Level 4 or lower in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it to my field. I Special Summon Madolche Puddingcess."

"Next, I activate Madolche Puddingcess's effect: Special Summon Madolche Mailman from my Deck."

Since there were no Owls on the field, Mailman couldn't search further, so Hara Shichi continued directly. "I Overlay the two Mailman monsters on my field. Xyz Summon—Tiramisu of the Tiara!"

"A second Xyz Monster..." The man was already trembling, but he tried to comfort himself. "It's okay, Skull King has 3000 ATK..."

However, Hara Shichi quickly shattered his hope.

"I activate Tiramisu of the Tiara's effect: by removing 1 Xyz Material, I return Madolche Puddingcess and Madolche Mailman from my Graveyard to the Deck, then I select Gorgonic Guardian and Skull King on your field and return them to the Deck."

"Return to the Deck?!" Even after being a hunter for so many years, the man had rarely seen an effect that returned monsters to the Deck.

Hara Shichi didn't stop because of the man's exclamation; he was already tired of hearing such sounds. "Because Tiramisu of the Tiara's effect caused Madolche monsters to return to the Deck, I trigger the effect of Madolche Ticket, Special Summoning Madolche Mailman from my Deck again."

Hara Shichi looked at the man's empty front row, switched Flashy Track Star on his Duel Disk to Attack Position, and said, "I enter the Battle Phase."

"Wait!" The man finally panicked. He quickly said, "What do you want?! Gold coins? I have two thousand gold coins! I'll give them all to you! I'll give you my Deck too! And... and I can do work for you! Don't look down on me, I'm quite famous in the hunter community! I know many people! Oh, right... you're looking for those humanoid Duel Spirits, aren't you?! I know where to buy them! Lots and lots of them!"

Hara Shichi watched him silently, not speaking.

"How about it? Let's negotiate. My worthless life isn't worth you dirtying your hands, is it?!" The man put on a fawning expression, like a begging dog.

Hara Shichi still didn't speak.

"Say something!" the man roared in frustration, "What do you want me to pay to be let go! Just say it!"

"Since that's the case," Hara Shichi said with a look of pity, "Give me your soul."

"Flashy Track Star, Tiramisu of the Tiara, Void Sea Dragon, Madolche Messenger... Direct attack!"

"Ahhhhh!"

With a scream, a dark mist enveloped and swallowed the man. It only dispersed slowly after his soul was completely consumed.

"Sorry, I really don't have anything like 'Substitute Soul'," Hara Shichi muttered. "If you were so afraid of death, why did you start a Dark Duel?"

"Because of the huge profit."

A cool voice sounded from the side. Hara Shichi turned his head and found Julie had appeared behind him at some point.

Chapter 71: Magician of Silence

"You won," Hara Shichi said, looking at the purple-haired girl in front of him, and unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

"An opponent of this level, isn't it only natural?" Julie said calmly.

Hara Shichi's gaze fell on Julie's slightly trembling arm.

"Don't misunderstand," as if sensing Hara Shichi's gaze, Julie hid her hand behind her back. "It's just my first time 'killing someone,' so I'm a bit uncomfortable."

No, it was more the relief of surviving a close call. Recalling the duel they just had, Julie still felt a bit scared.

Time rewinded twenty minutes ago...

"Hehehe... The first turn is mine." The Gloomy Woman said, placing a monster on her Duel Disk. "I enter Main Phase 1. I Normal Summon Magician of Silence LV4."

"Next, I Tribute my on-field Magician of Silence LV4 to Special Summon from my hand—Magician of Silence! Then, due to Magician of Silence's effect, this card's ATK increases by the number of cards in my hand × 500. I have three cards in my hand, so it increases by 1500!"

Magician of Silence: ATK 1000 → 2500!

"I end my turn like this," the Gloomy Woman said with a giggle.

"Magician of Silence, huh?" Julie frowned slightly, looking at the silver-haired woman in the blue robe on the opponent's field.

As someone who frequented the library, she naturally knew this famous monster and its power. It had a simple and crude summoning condition, high ATK, and a troublesome effect—Once per turn, when a Spell Card is activated: You can negate that activation.

If the opponent negated her Fusion, her Ace Monster, Dragon's Demise, wouldn't be able to appear on the field.

So... she had to get rid of it!

"My turn, Draw Phase!" Julie said, forcing herself to stay calm. "I Normal Summon Gorgonic Guardian."

"I activate Gorgonic Guardian's effect, sending one Zombie monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send Gozu-Meizu to the Graveyard, and activate Gozu-Meizu's effect to activate Zombie World from my Deck!"

With the activation of Zombie World, the dueling field, already shrouded in black mist, gained an even more chilling aura, as if they were in hell.

"This ugly field suits you perfectly," the Gloomy Woman sneered, looking at the scattered skeletons and rotten wood.

Aren't you going to negate it? Julie's lips curved slightly. Indeed, who would negate a Field Spell Card whose effect they don't know?

In that case, you won't be able to activate Magician of Silence's effect!

"I activate Borreload Dragon's effect. I discard Growing Flower from my hand and Special Summon it to the field."

"Next, I activate Growing Flower's effect. Add 1 Zombie monster with 5 or more stars from my Deck to my hand. If 'Zombie World' is in the Field Zone, I can also Special Summon it without adding it to my hand. I Special Summon Giant Ghoul Majera!"

A horned demon holding a chipped cleaver appeared on the field. Despite its dilapidated appearance, the terrifying aura it exuded made one dare not underestimate it.

"Majera's ATK is 2800. Add that to Jack-o'-Lantern and Gorgonic Guardian's ATK... I'm still short by 500," Julie's long eyelashes trembled slightly. "Calm down, don't rush. I already have an advantage, just take it slow."

"Hoo—"

"I enter the Battle Phase! Majera attacks Magician of Silence!" Julie shouted.

"Heh." The Gloomy Woman opposite her laughed. She hugged her stomach, as if she had seen something incredibly funny, and even doubled over with laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Julie asked warily. She already knew Magician of Silence's effect. It had no "if it is destroyed" clause or any other effect, and her opponent had no Set Cards on the field. It was impossible for her to activate a Mirror Force at this moment.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to attack LIGHT monsters casually?" the Gloomy Woman said teasingly, then sent a card from her hand to the Graveyard. "Before damage calculation, I send Honest from my hand to the Graveyard, and Magician of Silence's ATK increases to Majera's ATK!"

Magician of Silence ATK: 2500 → 2000 → 4800!

"What?!" Julie shrieked, and the powerful impact slammed her delicate body onto the cold ground.

"Impossible... Why do you have hand traps?!" Julie struggled to get up from the ground. Among the people she knew, besides professional Duelists, only Hara Shichi and Nero, those two "freaks," had hand traps. Why would this person, who was clearly just a "hunter," have hand traps?!

"Don't you know yet? Hand traps like Honest have already been eliminated by professional Duelists," the Gloomy Woman said, spreading her hands. "After all, it can only be used on LIGHT monsters, and it's an old dueling strategy like ATK boost. The current popular hand trap is Effect Veiler!"

"Precisely because of this, a large number of Honest and Battle Fader have flowed into the black market, and I just happened to pick them up. Hahaha! Monsters that professional Duelists deem useless are like treasures to me!"

"So that's how it is," Julie brushed the dust off her clothes. She had thought her opponent was on the level of a professional Duelist, but it turned out they had just gotten lucky and picked up a powerful card from a previous meta due to the environment's updates.

"Then I end my turn," Julie said, looking at the Fusion in her hand with resignation.

But it was okay. Her opponent couldn't possibly have a second copy of such a card. Jack-o'-Lantern could revive Zombie monsters from the Graveyard, and Majera, as a Zombie monster, also inherited the Zombie tradition of self-revival.

"My turn, Draw Phase." The Gloomy Woman drew a card without any concern and then placed a monster on the field. "I Normal Summon Spirit Reaper Sea Sky."

"I activate Jack-o'-Lantern's effect to Special Summon Magician of Silence LV4 from your graveyard to my field in Defense Position. Immediately after that, my Jack-o'-Lantern is banished." Julie said calmly.

"It escaped?" the Gloomy Woman muttered. "I enter the Battle Phase! Spirit Reaper Sea Sky attacks Gorgonic Guardian!"

"I activate Majera's effect from the graveyard. If a Zombie monster on my field is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish this card from my hand or graveyard instead." Julie stated without hesitation.

"Spirit Reaper Sea Sky's effect: As long as this card remains on the field, your opponent cannot banish cards from either player's graveyard." the Gloomy Woman sneered.

"Tsk." Julie clicked her tongue. Her knowledge was still insufficient. If she had known about the opponent's effect, she would have revived Majera with Jack-o'-Lantern's effect.

"It's not over yet! I activate Spirit Reaper Sea Sky's effect. When this card inflicts battle damage to you, I can target up to 2 monsters in your graveyard. Those monsters are banished. I banish Majera and Gorgonic Guardian from your graveyard!" the Gloomy Woman declared, pointing at the monsters in Julie's graveyard.

"Hmph, it seems you don't know my monster's effect either." Julie's lips curved slightly. "I activate Majera's effect. When this card is banished from the hand or graveyard, it can be activated. This card is Special Summoned in Defense Position. After that, you can reduce this card's Level by 1!"

The Gloomy Woman, intending to deplete Julie's graveyard resources, had inadvertently played right into her hands, bringing Majera back onto the field.

Chapter 72: Dragon's Demise! My Dragon's Demise!

"I end my turn like this." The Gloomy Woman held only two cards in her hand, so Magician of Silence's ATK was only 2000, unable to break through Majera's 2300 DEF.

"I activate Jack-o'-Lantern's effect, returning Jack-o'-Lantern to the field." Julie said calmly. "Next, it's my turn. Draw!"

Julie switched Majera on her Duel Disk to Attack Position and declared, "Next, I enter the Battle Phase! Majera attacks Magician of Silence!"

Gloomy Woman LP: 4000 → 3200.

"Just as I planned! I activate Magician of Silence's effect. When this card is destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect, it can be activated. I can Special Summon 1 "Magician of Silence" monster from my hand or Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions, except "Magician of Silence". I Special Summon Magician of Silence LV8!" the Gloomy Woman grinned.