Chapter 928: Life from Desperation

“My turn, draw a card.”

Now it was You Xuan’s turn.

“Activate the spell card ‘Demon’s Sanctuary,’” You Xuan said. “Special summon one ‘Metal Demon Token’ to my field.”

A classic summoning array unfolded on the ground, and a small puppet constructed entirely of silver metal appeared at its center.

【Metal Demon Token, ATK 0】

“Next, activate the spell card ‘Sacrificial Puppet’ from my hand,” You Xuan said. “Tribute one monster on my field to special summon a Level 7 monster that can normally be summoned from my hand.”

As a cost, the monster summoned by this effect cannot attack.

“I tribute the ‘Metal Demon Token.’”

The small metal puppet on You Xuan’s field disintegrated into points of light and vanished.

“Special summon from my hand the Level 7 demon, ‘Phantom Summoning God!’”

It was a slender frame built upon a skeletal structure woven with dark bone. Its signature massive wings stretched horizontally, nearly three times the width of its torso, composed of translucent purple membranes that created a stark visual contrast against its gaunt spine.

【Phantom Summoning God, ATK 0】

Level 7 with 0 ATK, and named ‘Phantom Summoning God’—its appearance immediately sent a wave of urgency through the others.

And their instinctive sense of danger proved justified all too soon.

“The effect of ‘Phantom Summoning God,’” You Xuan said. “Tribute this card itself to add one of the following from my deck or graveyard to my hand: ‘Divine Yan Emperor Uria,’ ‘Descending Thunder Emperor Hamon,’ or ‘Phantom Emperor Rabiel.’”

You Xuan shook a card that had just returned from the graveyard.

“Add ‘Phantom Emperor Rabiel’ from the graveyard to my hand.”

Cro gritted his teeth: “Just when we finally defeated the Phantom Emperor...”

Jack: “But summoning that Phantom requires tributing three monsters—even if you recover it, it won’t be easy to bring back!”

You Xuan laughed. “Not necessarily.”

Jack: “Nani?”

“The follow-up effect of ‘Phantom Summoning God’: after retrieving a Phantom to your hand, you can then special summon from your hand a Level 10 Yan , Thunder, or Demon-type monster with equal ATK and DEF, ignoring summoning conditions!”

The three: “!”

Yan , Thunder, and Demon types—clearly, these were exactly the races of Divine Yan Emperor, Descending Thunder Emperor, and Phantom Emperor. And it specified Level 10, with ATK equal to DEF.

It might as well have been quoting their ID numbers directly.

“Descend once more! Phantom Emperor Rabiel!!!”

The heavens and earth darkened; deep blue energy erupted like fire from the shattered crust. The colossal shadow of the Phantom rose with the flames, its massive claw slamming down—every inch of the world trembled in that instant.

【Phantom Emperor Rabiel, ATK 4000】

You Xing said gravely: “He’s manipulating the Phantom cards with such skill...”

He had already seen it: the Three Phantoms possessed overwhelming attack pressure, absolute resistance to traps, and potent effects—but these weren’t the most critical. The real danger lay in their countless ways of returning again and again.

Even if you managed to defeat them with great effort, they’d likely return on the next turn.

Cro: “What kind of terrifying beings are these Phantoms...?”

“You’re still too quick to be surprised,” You Xuan smiled. “Now activate the effect of ‘Phantom Emperor Rabiel – Heavenly Punishing Fist’ in my graveyard.”

“When this card is in the graveyard, once per turn, by tributing one monster on my field, it can return from the graveyard to my hand.”

The others: “!”

Heavenly Punishing Fist—the same name as the Phantom Emperor’s ultimate move, that terrifying card capable of instant kill. It could instantly double the Phantom Emperor’s power to 8000 and grant multiple attacks.

And it could even self-retrieve!

Thus, this card effectively became an extension of the Phantom Emperor’s own effect—equivalent to granting ‘Phantom Emperor Rabiel’ the ability: once per turn, tribute one monster on my field, double my own ATK, and attack all monsters on my opponent’s field.

“Now, activate once more the field spell ‘Paradise Lost,’” You Xuan said. “When I have a Phantom on my field, once per turn, draw two cards from my deck.”

You Xuan drew two more cards.

“Battle!” You Xuan said. “Phantom Emperor Rabiel, attack ‘Black Feather – Black Lance Blast!’”

The Phantom Emperor began charging; deep blue energy coalesced into his right fist, exploding into a punch that shattered the void.

“Cro!” You Xing couldn’t help but cry out.

Phantom Emperor’s ATK was 4000; Black Lance Blast’s ATK was 1700. Logically, this attack should deal 2300 battle damage, leaving a sliver of HP. But none of them had forgotten: You Xuan still held the recently recovered ‘Heavenly Punishing Fist.’

When damage calculation came, discarding Heavenly Punishing Fist would cause Phantom Emperor’s ATK to spike to 8000 in an instant. Their combined LP was only 2600—this punch would kill them outright.

Cro roared: “Aaaah! My full power isn’t done yet!”

“Activate my face-down card: trap card ‘Destructive Healing!’”

“Destroy one monster on my field to restore LP equal to its ATK!”

Cro took a deep breath.

“Forgive me, Black Feathers...”

Then he raised his arm.

“I destroy ‘Black Lance Blast’ to restore LP equal to its ATK!”

BOOM!

Black Lance Blast exploded under a crimson glow of the trap, bursting into a cloud of blood mist that was entirely absorbed into Cro’s body.

【Cro/Jack/You Xing, LP 2600 → LP 4300】

Long Ya outside the field said: “Ah, so Cro has to destroy his own Black Feathers himself...”

“But this is fine,” Qiu explained. “Even though Phantom Emperor has 8000 ATK and can attack multiple times, by destroying Black Lance Blast first, the Phantom has no target left to attack.”

You Xing added: “True. With Black Lance Blast tributed, the only monster left on our field is ‘Black Feather – Armored Wing.’”

“Exactly!” Cro said. “Armored Wing is a battle-immune monster—it takes no damage even when attacked!”

“Protect our bond, Armored Wing!”

“Hahaha, nice, nice—you’ve blocked it again with Armored Wing’s ability,” You Xuan said. “I’ll set two cards face-down. End my turn.”

Jack: “My turn, draw a card!”

“Activate spell card ‘Treasure of Adversity.’ When my opponent has a special summoned monster and I have none on my field, draw two cards!”

Jack drew two cards rapidly, but his expression darkened upon seeing them.

This card...

Has it really come to this?

(End of Chapter)