Chapter 102: Please Begin Your Performance

“Using this deck is better against you.”

You Xuan casually pulled a deck from the card box behind him and inserted it into the dueling field.

“Hah, it doesn’t matter what deck you use. Before the power granted to me by the True God, every deck is equally weak.”

“Become a sacrifice to my lord through the ritual of battle!”

“Duel!” x2

“I’ll go first. Draw.” You Xuan said, “First, activate the spell card ‘Pot of Greed’—draw two cards from the deck.”

“Then cover one monster on the field. Now activate this card—”

The image of the spell card floated before him.

“Spell Card—Silly Burial!”

“Send one monster card from the deck to the graveyard.”

You Xuan drew a card that popped out from the deck.

“Send ‘Killer Snake’ from the deck to the graveyard!”

He then drew two more cards.

“Cover two cards on the field. End my turn.”

Beetle Knight: “Then it’s my turn. Draw!”

“Activate the spell card ‘Hand Destruction’—both players discard all cards in hand to the graveyard, then draw the same number of cards as discarded.”

The Beetle Knight drew new cards, then revealed one from his hand.

“Next, activate the effect of this card in my hand.”

He displayed a monster card in his hand.

“Giant Drill Worm—by banishing an Insect-type monster from the graveyard, I can directly special summon it!”

The Beetle Knight drew a card that popped out from the graveyard.

“I banish ‘Dragon Dragonfly’ just sent to the graveyard to special summon ‘Giant Drill Worm’!”

The soil beneath the field trembled; a monstrous worm writhed upward, its grotesque, slime-coated mouthparts bared.

【Giant Drill Worm, ATK 1900】

“Then activate the spell card ‘Resurrection’! Revive a monster from the graveyard!”

“I’ll revive this card sent to the graveyard!”

“Revive ‘Resonance Beetle’!”

【Resonance Beetle, ATK 1000】

You Xuan raised an eyebrow.

Regardless of the strength of his deck, this ‘Resonance Beetle’ was a valuable card.

When Resonance Beetle is sent from the field to the graveyard, it can search the deck for an Insect-type monster of level five or higher. And when it is banished from the game, it can select an Insect-type monster from the deck to send to the graveyard.

Seeing this card, You Xuan naturally thought of Senior Du Wenxiu’s Tamashi, Demon Drill Worm. Though Insect-type monsters are niche, in early metas, Demon Drill Worm—requiring only two Insects banished from the graveyard to summon directly—was a high-quality attacker.

If Resonance Beetle is sent from the field to the graveyard, it can directly search for level-eight Demon Drill Worm. Then, Demon Drill Worm’s effect banishes Resonance Beetle from the game to special summon itself, adding a 2800 ATK attacker while also stacking another card to the graveyard.

Hmm, though You Xuan had no interest in Insect-themed decks, better safe than sorry—keeping one of these free cards never hurt.

After this duel, it’ll likely become ownerless anyway.

“Attack! First, use ‘Giant Drill Worm’ to target the covered monster!”

The Drill Worm burrowed into the ground, then burst through You Xuan’s side of the field a second later. The covered card flipped over, revealing a projection of a small penguin holding a sword.

“Penguin Soldier’s effect,” You Xuan waved his hand. “When this card is flipped face-up, you can return up to two monsters on your opponent’s field to their owner’s hand.”

“I choose ‘Giant Drill Worm’ and ‘Resonance Beetle’ to return to your hand!”

Beetle Knight: “!”

Both monsters returned to his hand; his field became empty.

“Tch. So it’s a return-to-hand effect.”

The two Insects he summoned weren’t just for offense—‘Resonance Beetle’ was his hidden trap.

Whether destroyed by battle or effect, if the opponent removed Resonance Beetle, he could search his deck for his divine Wangpai monster, ‘Demon Drill Worm,’ and launch a full-scale assault.

But since it was returned to hand, his follow-up plan was ruined.

But it didn’t matter.

“I haven’t performed a normal summon this turn,” the Beetle Knight said. “I cover one monster on the field, then set one card. End my turn.”

He covered ‘Resonance Beetle’ again—same effect.

The Beetle Knight stared coldly at his opponent, smirking inwardly.

Come on. Destroy my Resonance Beetle.

That will be the spark of your defeat.

“My turn. Draw.” You Xuan said. “At this moment, the effect of ‘Killer Snake’ I sent to the graveyard last turn activates.”

“When this card is in the graveyard, during my Standby Phase, I can return it to my hand.” (Original effect)

Though seemingly weak, its ability to recycle itself every turn granted infinite resource potential—it was once wildly popular across decks, until it was banned.

The real card wasn’t re-released until 2015, when its effect was nerfed to banish it next turn after returning to hand.

But in this world, Killer Snake still had its original effect—and looked exactly like a forgotten trash card. You Xuan easily bought three copies without effort.

“Spell Card—Angel’s Gift. Draw three cards from the deck, then discard two from hand.”

You Xuan sent two cards from hand to the graveyard.

“Now, the effect of ‘Black Forest Witch’ discarded—when sent to the graveyard, you can add a monster with 1500 DEF or less from the deck to your hand.”

“I’ll add this card from the deck to my hand.”

You Xuan drew and revealed a card.

“‘Abyss Soldier,’ DEF 1300.”

The deck shuffled automatically in the dueling field. He added Abyss Soldier to his hand, then revealed another card in hand.

“Continuous Spell—Water Barrier!”

Once per turn, when you have no monsters on the field, you can special summon one Level 4 or lower Water-type monster from your hand.

“I special summon ‘Abyss Soldier’ from my hand!”

【Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800】

The Beetle Knight showed no expression.

Come on. Attack. Attack my Resonance Beetle.

“Abyss Soldier’s effect activates,” You Xuan said. “Once per turn, discard one Water-type monster from hand to return one card on the field to its owner’s hand.”

“I discard ‘Killer Snake’ from hand to return your covered monster to your hand.”

Beetle Knight: “!?”

Back to hand again?

Twice summoned, twice returned—watching Resonance Beetle flash back into his hand as golden light, his lip twitched.

So this damn beetle just won’t stay down today, huh?

You Xuan: “I normal summon my second ‘Abyss Soldier.’”

【Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800】

Again!?

The Beetle Knight’s gaze sharpened.

No way!

“Activate my set card—Trap Card ‘Bottomless Pit’!” the Beetle Knight shouted. “Destroy any monster with 1000 or more ATK when it’s summoned!”

“Muda.”

You Xuan calmly flipped over his back row.

“Continuous Trap—Imperial Order! All trap cards on the field are rendered invalid!”

Beetle Knight: “Nang duoduo (What did you say)!?”

He could only stare, helplessly watching his Bottomless Pit bind under the irresistible trap power and explode into shards.

Even the onlooker Shidai couldn’t help but give him a strange look.

Rare indeed—You Xuan actually brought something like this himself.

Doesn’t that mean he can’t use traps either?

Wouldn’t that be terrible for his style?

“Attack! Direct attack with both ‘Abyss Soldiers’!”

Both soldiers flew forward, tridents swinging. The tridents carved through the Beetle Knight’s armor, trailing streams of water; he screamed like a slaughtered pig and collapsed.

【Beetle Armor Knight, LP 4000 → LP 400】

“One go and he’s down to just four hundred life points.”

Shidai’s gaze at You Xuan’s back glowed with admiration.

So powerful.

I want to duel him even more now.

“Brat.”

The Beetle Knight struggled to his feet, blood gushing from the gashes across his body.

“My Battle Phase is over, but my turn isn’t finished yet.”

You Xuan revealed another card from his hand.

“I activate the effect of my second ‘Abyss Soldier’—by discarding one Water-type monster from my hand, I select one card on the field and return it to its owner’s hand. I discard another ‘Assassin Snake.’”

Jida: “?”

Beetle Knight: “?”

Both reacted with a momentary stunned silence.

Return a card to hand again?

But Beetle Knight’s field had already been wiped clean—front and back zones alike, utterly empty, like a blank sheet of paper. There was nothing left to return.

“The ‘Abyss Soldier’ doesn’t just return your opponent’s cards to their hand—it can target cards on your own field too.”

“Therefore, I return my own continuous trap, ‘Proclamation of the Royal Palace,’ to my hand!”

Jida: “!”

Beetle Knight: “!!!!!!”

Nani!?

Watching the sinister trap card return to You Xuan’s hand, even the slow-witted Beetle Knight now grasped the severity of the situation.

Whenever he wanted to activate a trap, You Xuan would use ‘Proclamation of the Royal Palace’ to shut it down—but whenever You Xuan wanted to use a trap, he’d use ‘Abyss Soldier’ to return the proclamation to his own hand.

Beetle Knight was starting to panic.

So does that mean only he couldn’t use traps at all?

“I set three cards face-down. End of my turn.”

One face-up proclamation in the back row, plus two unknown, indescribable face-down cards.

You Xuan smiled and gestured with a wave of his hand.

Go ahead. It’s your turn.

(End of Chapter)