Chapter 104: Finally Free

"My turn, draw a card."

A golden light shimmered in You Xuan’s graveyard, and two cards slid out with a rustle.

"The effect of the two 'Killer Snakes' in my graveyard activates: during my Standby Phase, if 'Killer Snake' is in my graveyard, I can return it to my hand."

The two cards were drawn from the graveyard and returned to his hand.

The Beetle Knight’s face twitched.

He replenished his ammunition again.

He had already figured out how his opponent’s combo worked—Killer Snake was the endless supply of ammunition for those hellish soldiers.

Sure enough, You Xuan immediately sent one of the recovered Killer Snakes back to the graveyard.

"The effect of 'Abyss Soldier' activates: by discarding a Water-type monster from my hand, I can return any card on the field to its owner’s hand."

"So I discard the Water-type 'Killer Snake.'"

"I knew it!"

The Beetle Knight shouted.

"I activate my face-down card: Trap Card—'Forgetfulness'! When an opponent’s face-up Attack Position monster activates its effect, that activation is negated, and that monster switches to Defense Position!"

Jiedai: "Huh? But shouldn’t you know there’s still a 'Royal Decree' on You Xuan’s field?"

You Xuan raised an eyebrow.

This posture—did he have a counter to the Decree?

"Interesting. Then I accept your challenge," You Xuan said. "I activate my face-down card: Continuous Trap—'Royal Decree'!"

"All Trap Cards on both fields have their effects negated!"

The Decree, recovered by the Abyss Soldier, once again manifested its divine authority—an invisible pressure swept across the field, suppressing everything.

"As expected!" the Beetle Knight barked. "Counter Trap—'Reversal'!"

"When a Trap Card is activated, its activation is negated, and that card returns to its owner’s deck!"

There really was a counter.

You Xuan rested his chin on his hand and nodded slightly.

The counter-effect activated, forcibly halting the Decree’s activation. The Trap Card shot back as a streak of golden light into You Xuan’s Duel Disk deck, which shuffled itself with a rustle.

"Even 'Royal Decree,' the trap’s nemesis, is harmless if its activation is negated before it resolves."

"And since effects activate in reverse order, by the time 'Forgetfulness' resolves, 'Royal Decree' is no longer on the field—so my Trap Card 'Forgetfulness' activates successfully!"

"According to 'Forgetfulness,' the activation of 'Abyss Soldier' is negated, and it switches to Defense Position!"

The Beetle Knight laughed heartily.

"Stay put, Abyss Soldier!"

The power of the underworld seemed temporarily bound—the Abyss Soldier, constrained by the Trap, was forced to kneel and crouch, shifting into a defensive stance.

【Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800 → DEF 1300】

"Your combo is broken now," the Beetle Knight boasted.

He saw it clearly: whether in offense or operation, the Abyss Soldier was the absolute core of his opponent’s strategy. Once its effect was negated, there was nothing to fear.

Next turn, his insect army would launch a desperate counterattack, sounding the horn of reversal.

Can you even pull out a third unit to get wiped out again?

"I activate my face-down card: Continuous Trap—'Call of the Living Dead.' I revive one of my graveyard monsters in Attack Position. I choose the other 'Abyss Soldier' in my graveyard."

The Beetle Knight: "."

The vortex in the graveyard opened, and transparent water surged forth. A water-type soldier emerged from the abyss, returning to the field, while the whirlpool beneath him—leading to the netherworld—blew forth chilling winds.

You Xuan nodded approvingly: impressive, well-drawn.

But how are you going to handle the second one?

Anticipating the inevitable future, his beetle face twisted: "No no please don’t"

But he hadn’t expected You Xuan to immediately activate an effect—he calmly revealed another card from his hand.

"Equip Spell—'Blazing Piercer.' I equip it to your 'Millennium Scorpion.'"

Come on, big bro, take a cigarette, don’t be shy.

The Beetle Knight: "?"

At this point, why the hell are you giving me an equip card?

"The equipped monster gains 400 ATK, and when it attacks a Defense Position monster, if its ATK exceeds the target’s DEF, it gains piercing," You Xuan smiled. "Here you go, don’t be polite."

【Millennium Scorpion, ATK 2500 → ATK 2900】

The Millennium Scorpion gains 500 ATK when destroying a monster in battle, bringing its total to 2900.

"Of course, you know that great power always comes with risk," You Xuan explained with a grin. "The 'Blazing Piercer' has a side effect: when this card leaves the field, the equipped monster is banished from the game."

The Beetle Knight thought for a moment.

When this card leaves the field, the equipped monster is banished.

He suddenly understood—his expression twisted: "You—you’re planning to—"

"You guessed right. Too bad, no prize," You Xuan smiled. "I activate the effect of the second 'Abyss Soldier': discard another Water-type 'Killer Snake' from my hand to return any card on the field to its owner’s hand."

"The card I choose to return? Of course—it’s the Equip Spell, 'Blazing Piercer.'"

The Equip Spell flashed into a streak of golden light and flew back into You Xuan’s hand.

"Of course, since I’m the owner, it returns to me. But because 'Blazing Piercer' left the field, the equipped monster must be banished."

"Banish the 'Millennium Scorpion!'"

A rift in space opened again—a massive suction pulled the Millennium Scorpion off the ground and hurled it into the void, ejecting it from the duel entirely.

The Beetle Knight stared at his now pristine field, tears welling in his eyes.

No

Why does such a cruel combo even exist?

What kind of monster would even conceive such a strategy?

Jiedai was stunned: "Ah, this..."

Using Abyss Soldier to bounce an opponent’s monster back to their hand can clear the field, but the returned monster remains a usable resource.

But by combining Abyss Soldier’s effect with the side effect of Blazing Piercer, you can banish the opponent’s targeted monster directly—without returning it to their hand. And since Blazing Piercer returns to You Xuan’s hand, it can be reused; Killer Snake can be endlessly retrieved. The entire process consumes almost no resources.

Although You Xuan felt he had already won by this point, his opponent still had cards in hand. If the opponent had drawn a "Chestnut Ball" to survive this turn, then banishing the Millennium Scorpion outright—instead of bouncing it back—deprived him of an extra card resource.

Yeah, that’s it. Not because banishing the Millennium Scorpion into another dimension was more fun.

But his opponent clearly didn’t see it that way.

The Beetle Knight had given up struggling—he wore a mask of agony.

Just end me quickly.

He wanted to leave this unfriendly world and be reborn.

Next life, he’d never touch cards again.

"Battle," You Xuan commanded with a wave of his hand. "Abyss Soldier, direct attack!"

Watching the sinister soldier charge forward with sword raised, the Beetle Knight exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

It might sound insane, but after enduring monster bounces, banishments, and one-way Decrees over several turns, the thought that now a simple, direct slash was about to land on his head didn’t bring fear of death.

It brought relief.

Thank goodness—I never have to duel again.

【Beetle Knight, LP 1400 → LP 0】

(End of Chapter)