Chapter 184: Chaos

After reuniting with Princess Liliana Brenda and the others, the five of them rushed straight toward the center of the light circle; Mu Yi could take down the Sphinx, mainly because the Sphinx started playing on its own, otherwise the first round of riddles might have knocked Mu Yi down.

In the end, their understanding of power isn't on the same line as the Sphinx's.

In the realm of riddles, how could they possibly outplay a Sphinx that treats it as a divine duty?

According to intel from the duelists who withdrew, Anubis's avatar controls the domain of Judgment, while the Underworld Snake's avatar controls the domain of Devour.

If it were death or reincarnation, Mu Yi might still find a way to wrestle, but Judgment and Devour—better just give up.

As soon as the opponent takes it even slightly seriously, they have zero chance.

"It looks like everyone's thinking the same way!"

Mu Yi squinted at the crowd gathered at the circle's center; no one made a move. Acting first now would be like exposing his own hidden cards—once targeted, it would be irreversible.

"Everyone's waiting!" Lily mused briefly.

She understood that everyone was waiting for the final moment; if they launched a duel at the last second, the opponents would lose any chance to target them, leaving only strength and luck.

"Everyone has reservations; the one who steps forward now becomes the target of all arrows—let's watch and see!"

In a pessimistic view, they'd even have to eliminate two teams.

"The leader's score is 5,000 points above ours; in the worst case we need to take down at least two teams, and that's thanks to Yi defeating the Sphinx! Otherwise we'd be missing even more points!"

"Then I'm up?" Mu Yi volunteered to step forward.

That's a hidden mechanic designed to spur competition.

"The risk is huge, but the reward is huge too; there's a margin for error, worth a try!" Lily paused, then nodded. Team battles allow no margin for error; a solo fight can solve their current trouble.

The competition was fierce; they'd already eliminated several teams, each with a base of a thousand points, some three or four thousand, yet now the leader is 5,000 ahead.

It's like the magical book Lily needs—only a top‑ten ranking can redeem it.

Heaven knows how many points those behind the leader have.

As soon as Lily finished speaking, someone stepped forward.

More abstractly, everyone only knows the leader's score, not their own, so this waiting‑in‑the‑dark scene makes many restless, fidgeting.

"No, wait a bit longer; it's too early now!" Lily shook her head, wisdom flashing in her eyes.

"Five thousand points—who'll duel me? Not all cowards, right?" A scaled, humanoid crocodile strode to the center.

"Launch a personal challenge, stake five thousand points—how about it?"

After all, at the final moment, facing Anubis and the others, they have no guarantee of victory.

Yet those who made it here must have some confidence in their strength; their points can't be low. Optimistically, eliminating just one team would let them overtake in points.

Or rather, everyone's focus isn't on clinching the final victory; they just want to ensure their scores stay near the top.

Or, taking a step back, the item they covet may not be what others need; securing a minimum score is what they must prioritize.

Lily scanned the arena, continuously pondering a breakthrough plan.

"Go all in, muddy the waters—how about it?" Seeing Lily lacking a concrete plan, Mu Yi offered a suggestion based on instinct.

After all, each participant gets one redemption chance; the amount of points only determines the upper and lower bounds of the item they can claim.

Clearly, many share Mu Yi's mortal mindset.

"I'm up!" a tiny, skinny halfling stepped into the center.

"With five thousand points as the price, I challenge you to a duel!" the halfling blurted, and the crocodile‑person gaped wide, then chose to accept.

A duel itself can't be declined, but its terms can be; only terms exceeding the basic rules may be rejected, and if the duel fails, one‑fifth of the points remain unchanged.

Five thousand points is no small sum for any team present.

Once someone broke the silence, countless imitators followed instantly.

The previously tense center instantly filled with duels everywhere.

While Mu Yi and his group still observed, a figure leapt from the void and, without hesitation, challenged Mu Yi to a duel.

"Duel!"

Mu Yi was pulled into the duel arena; upon seeing his opponent, his face darkened.

It was a half-demon; he almost forgot such a group existed, no wonder he constantly felt someone watching from their side—half-demons among the teams must be many, and some bounty hunters might also have set their sights on Mu Yi.

Though not aiming to kill Mu Yi, per usual practice, eliminating him in such an event still yields a partial reward.

He briefly explained the situation to Lily and the others; Mu Yi gave the half-demon a friendly smile.

The half-demon's excited expression froze, then a bad feeling rose inside.

……

"Hell Path, burn everything!"

"Asura Warrior, give him the final blow!"

On Mu Yi's command, two Asura Warriors leapt from the Hell fire, slashing their weapons down on the half-demon, flipping it over.

"Event notice: You defeated your opponent in the duel and earned the promised 5,000 points!"

The defeated half-demon, after exiting the duel space, glared at Mu Yi in anger, then vanished into the void.

"How's the situation?"

Seeing Lily's slightly off complexion, Mu Yi asked curiously.

"It's worse than imagined; the leader's score exchanges are quite frequent, everyone is neck‑and‑neck, and more and more teams have joined the duels!" Lily shook her head.

World wars often start from a tiny friction; a single spark can ignite a barrel of explosives that blows up the world.

With the great melee underway, even strategies set by the clever have completely lost effect; in the chaotic situation there's no room for choice.

While Mu Yi and Lily were talking, the other four were pulled into the duel space.

The chaotic duel could no longer be avoided; even those teams that were watching from the sidelines were forced to join the battlefield one by one.

Since the leader's score keeps rising, they can't gauge others' points; at this point they can only strive upward, ensuring first place to securely claim what they want.

"Now it really feels like a battlefield!"

Mu Yi helplessly watched the few duelists scattered about; among them were not only Zongwang Players, but also duelist teams native to the Source World.

At this moment everyone had plunged into the war called dueling; Mu Yi could even smell the scent of war in the air, a war without smoke, without bloodshed, yet still full of victory and defeat.

"Since it's a war, that's the Military Strategist's home turf!"

Mu Yi grinned, then dove into that great vortex, casually picking a duelist who had just defeated an opponent.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

Since it's already chaotic, we might as well not care about anything else and just defeat all opponents.

……

"Start shrinking the circle!"

Until the announcement of the shrinking circle sounded, people only then slightly calmed down; in the great melee, the eliminated teams were few, but the points had already begun to tilt toward the top teams.

Although they lost the duel, the teams not eliminated were not discouraged; they stared fixedly at the top-tier teams, the earlier melee merely a preview of the final showdown— as long as they win in the final team battle, they can still achieve final victory.

However, the event seemed to be joking with everyone; the light circle suddenly shrank to nothing, catching everyone off guard, and then an even more chaotic war broke out.

"Duel!"

Mu Yi and them also couldn't escape the fate of being dragged into a duel.

"The opposing team is not simple; I saw their name in the first round!" Lily looked at the opposing team's appearance and immediately warned everyone.

"Don't hold back; unleash all your power!"

"Duel begins!"

As the reward for initiating the duel, the opponent gets the first move.

"I attack first, draw a card!"

The five opponents all wore black robes, apparently to conceal their identities; though a simple little design, it indeed had a confusing effect.

After all, by now most people's information has been exposed; this at least allows Mu Yi and them to make a brief decision when targeting before acting.

"Summon 'Masked Curse Spirit - Cursed Spirit', attack!"

On the field appeared a strange, eerie monster, with a weird skull hanging from its neck, overall like a ghost.

【Masked Curse Spirit - Cursed Spirit, Seven-Star】

"Add three set cards, end turn!"

A plain opening, but everyone knows it's because of the rule restrictions; otherwise this round everyone would have started super developments.

"Rebirth Six Paths! Hell Path!"

Mu Yi naturally laid down the Six Paths Barrier; hellfire covered the opponent's entire field, but within the hellfire, the Cursed Spirit, though appearing extremely fearful, suffered no damage at all.

"Summon Asura Warrior! Special summon second Asura Warrior!"

"Because of the Animal Realm's effect, we can perform a second normal summon!"

"Activate the magic card in hand, Ghost Gate Fragment, destroy the two Asura Warriors, normally summon Ghost Gate!"

Ghost Gate appears again on the field, completely separating both sides' fields, as if the inside and outside of the gate were two different worlds.

"Activate Ghost Gate's special effect, summon Door God Yulei!"