This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship

"Once you've done it once, you'll be used to it the second time. You won't be scared next time."

"Let's just not have a next time."

You Zhi stepped forward to check the tall masked man's injuries. His breathing was normal, but it was unclear whether he had suffered internal bleeding. If that blow had landed on an Earthling, it would have shattered his intestines. But people in this world had spiritual power protecting them, and this assassin had clearly trained his body, so he might not have been seriously injured.

At that moment, the sword-wielding demon broke free from Demon Lizard Yihao. Seeing its master unconscious, it hurried over to "rescue" him.

[Zure, Knight of Dark World (Level 4) DARK]

[Lineage: EVIL]

[Level: 24]

[Attack: 1800 (1980)]

[Defense: 1500 (1650)]

[Fiend, Description: A proud knight whose name is known to all in Dark World. He will never strike the weak.]

There was no doubt that this spirit was powerful. Its level was high, and its attack and defense were nothing to scoff at. Unfortunately, without its master's support—and after having just endured an assassination attempt, You Zhi's values had taken a severe hit. This was no time for sportsmanship. He immediately pulled out a Pokémon Card and summoned Goblin Attack Force.

Four Goblins wielding metal clubs joined Demon Lizard Yihao in ganging up on it, while You Zhi, the strongest person present, launched sneak attacks whenever an opening appeared. Zure, Knight of Dark World lasted only fifteen seconds before being blasted into spiritual particles, dying an aggrieved death.

Faced with the combined assault of spirits and trainers, it had truly done its best.

When You Zhi and Phile returned to the training ground, they witnessed the decisive moment.

"I activate the Spell Card [Witch Hunt], destroying all Spellcaster spirits on the field!" the Masked Killer declared, raising a Spell Card.

Pegasus's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly ordered, "Everyone, use Substitute!"

However, after fighting for so long, all the spirits had been injured, and their condition was far worse than at the start. Only one strange spirit, with two doll heads growing from its shoulders and nothing but a mouth on its face, successfully used Substitute. The other two were a beat too slow. Crosses suddenly appeared and bound them, then greatswords came crashing down. The two spirits were severed in half and burst into spiritual particles.

Because this was an Official Duel, Pegasus did not suffer spiritual backlash. But with only one spirit left, he was no match for the masked brute. His defeat was only a matter of time.

Realizing this clearly, he said with an ugly expression, "No wonder you insisted on sending three spirits out at once. You planned everything around using that card to wipe out all my spirits in one go."

"It wasn't easy to find a Spell Card that specifically countered you. Naturally, I had to create the most favorable conditions and wait for the most appropriate moment."

There was a hint of smugness in the masked brute's voice. "Surrender. I have no interest in the lives of your entire family. Just tell me where the Three Egyptian Gods are, and I'll leave immediately."

Pegasus sighed. "I don't know which enemy spread this rumor, but I can swear in the name of the Crawford family that I have never seen the Three Egyptian Gods. You should think carefully—if I truly had seen the Three Egyptian Gods, what would be the point of hiding it? You have already fought a Spirit Duel with me. Do you still believe I have the strength to subdue the Three Egyptian Gods?"

The masked brute hesitated. He felt that Pegasus had a point, but when he remembered the astronomical bounty, he still said, "It seems your family means less to you than the Three Egyptian Gods. Then I can only apologize to them."

"Sorry to interrupt."

You Zhi came to the edge of the barrier and lifted the tall masked man, who was dragging along the ground. "Your companion is already in my hands. For his safety, please surrender immediately."

Entrusted at a Critical Moment

Phile whispered, "Isn't using a hostage to threaten him a little too villainous?"

You Zhi replied righteously, "What are you talking about? They were the ones who abandoned sportsmanship first. This is self-defense!"

If Official Duels did not have barriers protecting trainers, You Zhi would definitely have sneaked up on the enemy and launched a righteous ambush.

If he could directly knock out the trainer, then why the hell would he bother with a Spirit Duel?

It took an outsider's reminder for You Zhi to remember such basic Huaxia military strategy as capturing the leader first. He felt deeply ashamed of having forgotten traditional culture.

"He couldn't even capture one person without messing it up. What a useless fool."

The masked brute merely glanced over, completely unconcerned. "He isn't my companion. He's just a mercenary we happened to be working with. Kill him if you want. One less person to split the money with is good for me too."

Upon hearing that, You Zhi decisively stomped down, crushing the tall man's left-hand fingers into pulp. The pain instantly woke him, and he let out shrill screams.

Phile felt somewhat unable to bear it, but she did not speak up to stop him.

Even so, the masked brute remained unmoved. He continued directing his spirits to assault Pegasus, and the situation became increasingly perilous.

"What a cold-blooded bastard."

You Zhi broke one of the tall man's legs as well. When the masked brute acted as though he had heard nothing, clearly not caring about his companion's safety, You Zhi gave up on the torture in disappointment and kicked the tall man unconscious.

Phile asked, "Brother You Zhi, what do we do if he won't surrender?"

You Zhi thought for a moment. "The instant Mr. Pegasus loses, I'll launch a surprise attack and see whether I can take him down."

Why was he attacking the trainer directly again?

Phile instinctively felt that this violated the rules of being a trainer. But her family's safety was at stake, so breaking the rules was breaking the rules. The enemy had been the first to ignore them anyway. This was called reasonable retaliation and legitimate self-defense.

She was merely kindhearted. She did not have some saint complex.

Fighting one against three, Pegasus held out for a while with Spell Cards. Unfortunately, he could not overcome the universal law that people became thirty percent weaker after being "washed clean." Having a family and living a happy life, he was no longer the father of Duel Monsters who had crushed President Kaiba and driven both versions of the protagonist into despair. In the end, he still lost. His spirit, Faceless Illusionist, was destroyed and burst into spiritual particles.

The outcome had been decided. The Duel Barrier was withdrawn, and control was transferred at the same time. Although Pegasus had not suffered spiritual backlash, controlling three spirits at once had injured his spiritual channels. His entire body was in agonizing pain, and he could barely move.

Seizing that instant, You Zhi circulated his spiritual power and shot forward like an arrow, rapidly closing the distance to the masked brute with his eyes locked on vital points.

"Metal Guardian, use Iron Wall."

The masked brute did not panic in the slightest. He calmly summoned a Machine-Type spirit in front of himself, blocking every possible route of You Zhi's attack.

"From the moment I saw you crush that useless trash's fingers without changing expression, I knew you would attack me. You're so capable at such a young age. Was it also your doing when the attempt to kidnap Pegasus's daughter failed?"

"Who knows? Maybe the Goblin Slayer you sent was simply too useless."

You Zhi stopped advancing and circled around him, searching for openings while deliberately exposing flaws to lure the enemy into attacking.

But the masked brute did not fall for it. Hiding behind his spirit, he said, "Your gaze is terrifying. Just being watched by you makes me tremble. You feel even stronger than the spirits I've encountered before. Are you really human?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm a spirit using a skill to disguise myself as a human, deliberately pretending to be powerful to scare you. Maybe I'm actually just a paper tiger that falls apart with one poke. Why don't you test it yourself?"

"I'll pass. I'm the one who controls the Duel Barrier now. There's no need to abandon my strengths and play to my weaknesses."

As soon as he finished speaking, the masked brute reactivated the Duel Barrier.

Now it was You Zhi's turn to make a choice: either accept the invitation and enter an Official Duel, or continue fighting under unequal conditions.

"Kid, catch!"

At that moment, Pegasus, supported by Phile, flung out a card.

You Zhi used a gentle force to catch it without damaging the card. Looking closely, he found that it was Silent Magician's Pokémon Card. The imprint had already been erased, turning it into an ownerless card.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

Clearly, Pegasus knew that You Zhi had only two spirits—not even enough to fill the slots for an Official Duel.

"Leave it to me."

You Zhi circulated his spiritual power and imprinted the Pokémon Card once again.

Silent Magician was now equivalent to a wild spirit. If it had resisted, You Zhi would have needed to release it and go through the process of subduing it all over again. Fortunately, that did not happen. The imprint was added smoothly, so smoothly that it was as though the card had actively absorbed it.

"Taking over someone else's spirit at the last minute? It seems you're still just a novice trainer."

The masked brute laughed. Having spirits without matching Spell Cards greatly reduced their threat. There was nothing to worry about.

"Yeah. If you lose to a rookie trainer like me, that would be utterly humiliating. If it were me, I definitely couldn't endure that kind of disgrace. I'd rather drown myself in a cesspit."

When it came to trash talk and arguing, You Zhi had never been inferior to anyone in his life.

The masked brute snorted and recalled every spirit on the field. He was worried that You Zhi had watched the previous battle and would set up a countering strategy. The possibility was small, but he still had to be cautious. In any case, he carried plenty of spirits, far more than a rookie trainer who could not even fill all his slots.

"Duel!" X2

Without the slightest hesitation, the masked brute repeated his old trick and summoned three powerful spirits at the start. Experience had taught him that rookie trainers only became flustered and issued random commands when faced with group battles.

[Overlord of Dark World (Level 5) DARK]

[Lineage: Fighting-type]

[Level: 26]

[Attack: 2000 (2040)]

[Defense: 1530 (1561)]

[Fiend, Description: Uses powerful dark power to destroy everything around it.]

[Card-Hunting Reaper (Level 5) DARK]

[Lineage: Ghost-type]

[Level: 25]

[Attack: 1380 (1380)]

[Defense: 1930 (1930)]

[Fiend, Flip: Select 1 Trap Card on the field and destroy it. If the selected card is set, flip it over to confirm it. If it is a Trap Card, destroy it. If it is a Spell Card, return it to its original state.]

[Dark Chimera (Level 5) DARK]

[Lineage: EVIL · Fire-type]

[Level: 20]

[Attack: 1610 (1449)]

[Defense: 1460 (1314)]

[Fiend, Description: A monster that dwells in the Demon World and attacks by breathing dark flames.]

"Going all in at the start? Who are you trying to scare?"

You Zhi snorted coldly and declared proudly, "I'm not calling!"

With two fingers, he plucked Goblin Attack Force from the void in a pose that scored a 9.6 for coolness, then summoned it onto the field together with the Silent Magician in his hand.

The Value of Goblins

Judging only by the lineup on the field, You Zhi's spirits were not much weaker than his opponent's. After all, Goblin Attack Force had four Goblins. In terms of sheer numbers, they even outnumbered the enemy.

But that was an outsider's view. Anyone knowledgeable knew what was really going on. Goblin Attack Force was not some rare spirit. As fragile glass cannons, they could be knocked down by practically any attack.

"Overlord, use Aura Sphere. Chimera, use Flamethrower. Reaper, use Shadow Sneak on the short Spellcaster."

An ordinary trainer would already be flustered just trying to assess the situation. But the masked brute had clearly undergone specialized group-combat training, issuing commands with the fewest possible words.

By comparison, You Zhi did not have that skill. Nor did he intend to challenge the opponent's professional expertise with on-the-spot improvisation. He only gave his two spirits one simple command: "Stall for time."

After saying that, he brought his hands together and focused on refining a Spell Card, no longer paying attention to the battle.

On the battlefield, Overlord of Dark World gathered Fighting-type energy between its hands and fired a wave projectile. Dark Chimera opened its mouth and breathed a pillar of fire at the Goblins. Card-Hunting Reaper thrust its scythe into the ground, and the shadows below it trembled faintly.

Silent Magician used Teleport, dodging the Shadow Sneak that suddenly burst from the ground. Goblin Attack Force howled and rolled across the ground to evade the attacks. That method could avoid Flamethrower, but not Aura Sphere with its tracking effect. One unlucky Goblin was hit and immediately burst into spiritual particles.

"I see. You learned from Pegasus's mistake and realized that you couldn't possibly command multiple spirits against me. So you simply gave up on commanding them and placed your hopes on Spell Cards instead. At the same time, to avoid the intense spiritual output affecting the refinement process, you only summoned two spirits."

The masked brute instantly guessed You Zhi's intentions and could not help clicking his tongue in admiration. "To come up with the most advantageous strategy in such a short time, your talent is truly astonishing. Why not join our organization? In less than three years, you could become one of our elite aces."

The outline of a Spell Card appeared in You Zhi's palm. Maintaining the refinement, he said, "An organization that does not even dare reveal its name? Who knows what kind of fate awaits someone after joining it?"

"Heh. As long as you agree to join, I'll tell you everything about the organization."

Naturally, the masked brute would not let himself be tricked into revealing the organization's name so easily. At the same time, he split his focus three ways and began refining Spell Cards as well. However, burdened by three spirits, his refining speed was far slower than usual.

"I'll pass. True powerhouses do not hide behind secrecy. An organization whose members do not even dare show their faces probably isn't all that strong. At most, it's a gathering of vermin licking each other's festering sores in a stinking gutter."

The Spell Card was complete. You Zhi assessed the situation on the field and decided to set the card, then began refining a second Spell Card.

"...I hope your ability as a trainer is as sharp as your tongue. Otherwise, I'll tear that mouth of yours apart just like I blew up your spirits."

No matter how good-tempered someone was, repeated humiliation—especially after they had offered goodwill—was impossible to endure. The masked brute's gaze immediately turned icy as he ordered harshly, "Reaper, activate your effect and destroy that Spell Card!"

Card-Hunting Reaper stopped pursuing Silent Magician, twisted sharply in midair, and rapidly changed direction. It swung its scythe at the Spell Card You Zhi had set.

However, although the sharp scythe struck the Spell Card, it could not pierce through it.

Under the effect of Card-Hunting Reaper's ability, the Spell Card flipped face-up. It was Earthquake.