Chapter 88

“Yu Cheng Shidai, indeed he possesses something special that others lack.”

Sanze watched the student below the stage, proudly flashing a V-sign and nearly driving Manzaimu into self-imposed exile.

“He doesn’t rely on analysis or calculation, but fights entirely on raw passion and instinct—and yet he has an unexpected talent.”

You Xuan thought: All this complexity? In the end, it’s just divine draw.

Student Shidai, born with a natural card body, is inherently better at drawing than others. In the early anime, his Elemental Hero deck consisted of only seven or eight monster cards—each monster had exactly one copy, no duplicates, and most were common cards; the rest of the deck was filled with inexplicable spell and trap cards.

If any card enthusiast saw this deck, their first reaction would be: “Can this even be competitive?” But if you assume he always draws the card he needs, then stuffing dozens of versatile support cards into the deck actually seems impressive.

“I’m sure I’ll have to fight Shidai someday. But before that—”

Sanze Daichi rose from his seat and looked earnestly at You Xuan.

“First, I must settle the issue within the Yellow Dorm. I haven’t planned to give up first place so easily.”

“Then you’d better keep up, second place,” You Xuan said, standing and teasing.

“Of course,” Sanze smiled. “I’ve prepared for this day for a long time—I’ve just completed my seventh deck, specifically designed for this duel.”

From certain angles, You Xuan could see his own reflection in Sanze.

Sanze was the only person You Xuan had found in the academy who, like himself, carried multiple decks. When he enrolled, he used the official experimental deck, and ever since, he’d kept six other decks—each with different attributes and themes—which he called his “Six Harmonies Decks.”

In the original story, he spent a month researching to complete his seventh deck to challenge Yu Cheng Shidai, who claimed to be number one. But now, it seems that honor has been passed to You Xuan.

“Funny,” You Xuan smiled faintly. “I also spent some time—yesterday, my main deck was finally completed.”

“Oh?” Sanze’s smile turned confident, tinged with anticipation. “So I’m the first person to experience the number one’s main deck firsthand? I’m truly honored.”

“Likewise. To personally face your seventh deck, tailor-made for me, I feel equally honored.”

“Then let’s begin. Let’s duel,” Sanze declared, brimming with determination. “Today, we decide who is the strongest in the Yellow Dorm!”

Both descended to the duel arena, and the students of the Yellow Dorm immediately turned their gazes toward them. These two had dominated every early exchange match; today would determine who truly held the title of top dog.

“Duel!” x2

【You Xuan, LP 4000】

【Sanze, LP 4000】

“I’ll go first, draw!” Sanze took the initiative. “I summon ‘Mathematician’ in attack position!”

A white-bearded old man with glasses appeared on his field, clutching a thick textbook.

【Mathematician, ATK 1500】

“Mathematician’s effect: When summoned, send one monster of level four or lower from your deck to the graveyard!”

The effect was clearly powerful—allowing unrestricted, race- and attribute-free lower-level graveyard dumping. Moreover, when destroyed in battle, Mathematician lets you draw an extra card.

This card was widely used in real-life competitive play and was even once banned or limited. But many seasoned players didn’t know this ruthless card originally belonged to Sanze.

Though Sanze appeared lazy in the anime and his main monsters were weak in real play, few realized that many powerful lower-level and support cards widely used in competitive environments were originally his creations.

“Next, Spell Card ‘Angel’s Charity’—draw three cards from your deck, then discard two from your hand.” Sanze swiftly changed his hand. “Finally, set one card face-down. End of my turn.”

Having finished his first turn’s setup, Sanze narrowed his eyes and studied You Xuan.

In his view, You Xuan was a hard-to-read opponent. Unlike 90% of duelists, You Xuan constantly switched decks and strategies. He’d also noticed that his opponent, like himself, enjoyed researching opponents in advance to find weaknesses.

So far, Sanze’s observations showed that You Xuan’s deck themes, races, and attributes followed no pattern, and his tactics shifted endlessly—making tactical lockdown nearly impossible.

But the same applied to You Xuan. Sanze’s Six Harmonies Decks shared almost no commonality, and his newly completed seventh deck had never been seen before. His opponent likely couldn’t prepare effectively either.

Yet after his research, Sanze had found a point of entry.

Thinking of it, Sanze’s lips curled into a confident smile.

This duel must be his to win!

“My turn, draw,” You Xuan said. “I also activate ‘Angel’s Charity’—draw three cards from my deck, then discard two from my hand.”

“Then, I activate the Spell Card ‘Mischievous Twin Devils’.”

Sanze narrowed his eyes.

Here it comes!

After meticulously analyzing and charting every card and tactic You Xuan had used, Sanze noticed that even across wildly different decks, You Xuan consistently chose similar cards.

One of the most frequent was hand destruction.

“Pay 1000 LP to randomly discard one card from your opponent’s hand, then your opponent discards one more of their choice.”

【You Xuan, LP 4000 → LP 3000】

“Not so easy.”

Sanze suddenly revealed a card in his hand.

“Monster effect of ‘Twin Devils’ in my hand!

When an opponent activates a card that includes ‘discard my hand’ effect, I can send this card from my hand to the graveyard to negate and destroy that activation!

Then, I draw one card from my deck!”

The once-unstoppable Twin Devils met their first defeat—its illusionary form on Sanze’s field was violently crushed, retreating uselessly.

“Thus, Twin Devils’ effect is negated. I draw one card!” Sanze smiled.

“I see. You’ve prepared a counter to ‘Hand Destruction.’ Well done, second place.” You Xuan chuckled.

“Since it’s a duel against the number one, I must be cautious—then cautious again,” Sanze crossed his arms, speaking plainly. “I’ve prepared thoroughly for this duel!”

You Xuan drew three more cards.

“I set one monster face-down in the front row, and two cards face-down in the back row. End of my turn.”

Sanze frowned slightly.

Three face-downs appeared on the field—but why didn’t he attack?

This still revealed nothing about what You Xuan meant by his “main deck.”

“Is it a defensive, counter-oriented deck?”

Thinking this, Sanze smiled even more.

“If so, then I’ve already won this duel!”

You Xuan smiled: “Try it and see.”

“Then I won’t hold back,” Sanze raised his voice. “My turn, draw!”

“I activate the Equip Spell ‘Magical Wand’!” Sanze said. “Equip it to a Spellcaster monster, increasing its ATK by 500.”

“I equip ‘Magical Wand’ to my Spellcaster, ‘Mathematician’!”

【Mathematician, ATK 1500 → ATK 2000】

“Now watch closely, number one. This is the first lethal combo I designed for my seventh deck—to defeat you!”

Sanze revealed another card from his hand.

“Tribute Summon ‘Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon’!” Sanze declared. “This card can be summoned without tribute. However, when summoned this way, its ATK and DEF are halved!”

【Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon, ATK 2800 → ATK 1400】

“Then I activate the Equip Spell ‘Meteor Bow—Flame’ from my hand, equipping it to ‘Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon’!” Sanze said. “The equipped monster’s ATK decreases by 1000, and it may directly attack the opponent player!”

【Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon, ATK 1400 → ATK 400】

The surrounding students were utterly confused.

Cannon Dragon’s ATK was already down to 1400—why reduce it further by 1000? Even if it could attack directly, what good would that do?

“Maybe he still has ‘Foolish Axe’.”

A voice came from behind Tian Shangyuan Mingrixiang. She turned: “Liang?”

Standing behind her was none other than Duel Academy’s Kaiser, Wan Teng Liang.

“You’re here to watch the new students’ evaluation?”

“Mm. This year’s freshmen have a few who caught my interest,” Wan Teng Liang nodded.

“Indeed. If he has ‘Foolish Axe,’ it can negate Cannon Dragon’s own effect and grant an additional 1000 ATK boost—perfectly canceling out the Meteor Bow’s penalty,” Mingrixiang mused. “If that’s the combo, Sanze would get a Cannon Dragon with 2800 ATK that can attack directly!”

But at that moment, Sanze Daichi chuckled softly: “You’re wondering if I have ‘Foolish Axe,’ aren’t you?”

You Xuan: “...”

“The Foolish Axe combo would let me summon a Cannon Dragon that can attack directly—indeed, a powerful combination. But my duel goes beyond that!

I don’t just intend to deal you heavy damage—I intend to win this duel within this turn!”

The entire arena fell into stunned silence.

The duel had barely begun—how could he be so confident?

“I activate the Spell Card ‘Mechanical Replication’ from my hand!

Select one Machine-type monster on my field with ATK 500 or lower, and special summon up to two copies of the same card from my deck!”

“I select my own ‘Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon,’ now with 400 ATK!”

The onlookers: “!!!”

You can do that?!

“The purpose of Meteor Bow wasn’t direct attack—it was to reduce Cannon Dragon’s ATK below 500!” Mingrixiang exclaimed.

At that moment, Sanze’s Cannon Dragon was selected by Mechanical Replication, splitting into three—two additional heavy mechs materialized on the field!

【Changeable Machine Beast—Cannon Dragon, ATK 2800】x2

One student gasped: “He summoned three Level-7 monsters at once this way!”

High above, Kronos nodded repeatedly: “No wonder Sanze is among the elite freshmen—he’s far more impressive than Manzaimu.”

Even his lingering frustration over Manzaimu’s humiliating defeat by Shidai—and the fact that a failing student had been promoted to Yellow Dorm—had eased.

Mingrixiang: “But can it really proceed this smoothly? You Xuan’s duels are—”

Her gaze had already drifted unconsciously to You Xuan’s face-down cards.

Having experienced it firsthand, he knew better than to ignore any single back-row card from this guy.

Sure enough, You Xuan’s back row had also been flipped over: “Activate the face-down card: Trap Card—Rapid Grave!”

When a monster is summoned, specially summoned, or flipped summoned, destroy all monsters on the field indiscriminately!”

“Of course,” Asuka said.

She knew—You Xuan would never make things this simple.

The duel had barely begun, yet the intensity of this exchange left the surrounding students holding their breath. Sanze had built an OTK setup in a single turn with a dazzling chain, but now this back-and-forth had turned his own resources into fodder, swept away by a single card—absolute disadvantage.

Yet Sanze remained calm, even smiling faintly: “Of course. Statistical data shows that hand destruction and trap interference are tactics you heavily rely on across all decks.”

But I anticipated this long ago! Watch closely, Number One—this is my answer!”

He raised his hand, and as his face-down back-row card flipped open, an overwhelming pressure seemed to radiate across the entire field.

“Continuous Trap—Proclamation of the Royal Palace!”

As long as this card remains on the field, all other trap cards on both sides become invalid!”

The effect of Rapid Grave instantly nullified; the surging torrent, bound by the trap’s restraint, dissolved into a phantom and vanished.

“It’s Proclamation of the Royal Palace,” Maru Teng Ryo murmured. “Indeed, for trap-heavy decks, this card delivers a devastating blow. It seems Sanze really did his homework beforehand.”

In that case, his opponent is at a serious disadvantage now.

Traps are completely shut down, and a Transformable Machine Beast remains on the field. Regardless of whether he can survive this turn, even if he somehow endures this assault, breaking through this setup next turn is nearly impossible.”

“That’s true. But—” Asuka crossed her arms, leaning against the railing with a faint smile, “underestimating that guy comes at a price.”

“Oh?” Maru Teng Ryo glanced at Asuka. “I heard you’ve fought him before. Any insights?”

“Mm.”

At this, Asuka briefly recalled the memory of facing that five-fold fused mecha, that overwhelming power—how she had exhausted every technique, every ounce of strength, yet still been powerless.

“I think the impression that he’s ‘especially resistant to traps’ might itself be part of his strategy,” Asuka said.

“What do you mean?”

“He deliberately crafted that image—so everyone who sees him once remembers this most prominent trait. That way, even if someone tries to analyze and counter him, they’ll inevitably focus on his most obvious feature.”

“If an opponent hides in the shadows, gathering intelligence and studying him specifically, that should be a disadvantage—enemy in the dark, you in the light. But if he deliberately uses this fabricated persona as bait...”

“...then the enemy’s counterplay becomes predictable, turning into his advantage.” Maru Teng Ryo understood, but frowned slightly in doubt. “But if that’s true, this freshman’s cunning is too deep.”

"And it requires one prerequisite: that even without relying on his usual tactics, he can skillfully adapt and counter any variety of strategies. Are you certain he's that kind of duelist?"

“I think he might be. He’s strong,” Asuka said seriously.

Maru Teng Ryo smiled. “For a classmate you’ve only met once, you have surprising faith in him.”

Asuka: “I don’t! I just understand because I’ve fought him once!”

(End of Chapter)