Chapter 981: vs Dragun

The track’s spotlights flared on, and the stands erupted in deafening cheers. Dragun slid his dark D-Wheel slowly onto the track; as he removed his goggles to reveal his glowing rune-marked “Lu En Eye,” a wave of astonishment swept through the crowd. At the same time, You Xuan’s D-Wheel glided into the starting line from the opposite direction, triggering an equally fervent stir among the spectators.

The two D-Wheels stood side by side. Dragun glanced sideways at You Xuan, squinting as he smiled: “You Xuan, who exactly are you?”

“Hm?” You Xuan looked at him, his tone casual. “I’m just me.”

Dragun shook his head. “We found no record of any past duels you’ve fought. A duelist as strong as you couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere.”

“It’s incredible—my ‘Lu En Eye’ tells me you’re dangerous, yet I can’t discern why.”

As he spoke, runes resembling Nordic symbols reappeared in his irises. That was the “Lu En Eye,” the power shared by all three members of the Gods’ Twilight Team, just like the Dragon Seals of the Red Dragon’s chosen emissaries.

This eye was the proof of their status as divinely chosen messengers.

“I’ve never faced an opponent my ‘Lu En Eye’ couldn’t read,” Dragun asked. “Who are you? Why enter the WRGP? Or why compete alone?”

“Why else? To challenge my own limits,” You Xuan chuckled.

“Is that so?” Dragun still looked skeptical, but he said, “I don’t know what you hope to achieve through this match, but give up. You’re strong—I can see that. But no matter how powerful you are, no duelist in this world can fight to the end against three gods. If you truly seek to test your limits, we’ll satisfy you—let today’s duel show you the truth.”

While they spoke, the track’s floating boards had entered their launch countdown.

Both twisted their throttles hard; engines revved idle, the D-Wheels’ roars like two beasts snarling at each other, poised to explode forward.

“Dashing Duel—Accelerate!” x2

【You Xuan, LP 4000】

【Dragun, LP 4000】

Both D-Wheels shot off simultaneously, becoming two streaks of light racing down the track.

Of course, as always in Dashing Duel, the opponent goes first. You Xuan figured a true king must act like one—let the opponent perform first, then strike back. That’s how a king duels.

Not because his riding skills are bad and he can’t outpace the other.

“I’ll take the first turn—draw!” Dragun declared.

“I summon ‘Star Beast—Tangrisnil’!”

A vortex of starlight opened; a white lightning bolt shot from it and landed beside Dragun’s D-Wheel. The light and electricity coalesced into a white goat, its four hooves pounding the ground beside the D-Wheel.

【Star Beast—Tangrisnil, ATK 1200】

Dragun immediately played three more cards from his hand.

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

The spiky-haired commentator burst out: “Oh! Three face-down cards in the first turn! Dragun’s setup is a fortress—he’s clearly prepared, not letting his three-vs-one advantage make him careless!”

You Xuan whistled. “Three face-down cards? That’s terrifying.” Everyone raced for first turn because the first player could set up the field early—like laying five powerful traps in the back row, forcing the second player into a minefield where every move was a trap.

In early Yu-Gi-Oh!, the first player’s disruption mainly came from traps, so while first turn had an advantage, it wasn’t overwhelming.

But as the game evolved into faster formats, modern Yu-Gi-Oh! no longer needed traps for resistance—first turn players could just summon monsters that destroyed cards during the opponent’s turn or negated all effects during the opponent’s turn. The second player started with only six cards; if the opponent fielded nine negation effects, every card the second player played got negated—there was no way to play.

That's why the rules were later changed to "first player cannot draw"—the first-turn advantage was too strong and needed to be reduced. Even with one fewer card, practical play proved the first turn still held an absolute advantage; for a time, Yu-Gi-Oh! was mocked by players as a "rock-paper-scissors game," where the winner was decided the moment the first turn began.

After all, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a cruel game—only one player can play well, and only the first player has the right to act. The second player might as well brew tea, snack on sunflower seeds, zone out, and when they snap back to reality, they’re already cheering as they say “GG.”

Of course, that brutal version hadn’t arrived yet—this era still allowed the second player to fight back.

“My turn, draw,” You Xuan smiled calmly. “Facing gods? That’s truly exciting. For this duel, I deliberately prepared the perfect deck to face gods.”

“The perfect deck for gods?” Dragun raised an eyebrow.

They had researched beforehand—You Xuan constantly switched between bizarre decks. That’s why his tactics were hard to study or counter.

But after discussion, all three members of Gods’ Twilight Team agreed it didn’t matter. No matter what deck the opponent used, they’d stand firm. They had absolute faith in their gods—any enemy could be crushed, let alone a single opponent.

So Dragun smiled again: “Is that so? Then I’ll look forward to it too. But let me be clear—nothing in this world can defeat a god!”

“There’s no absolute in the Duel World,” You Xuan said. “I summon ‘Dumbass Opossum.’”

Therefore, Dragun laughed again: “Really? Then I’ll look forward to it a little. But I’ll say this upfront—nothing in this world can defeat a god!”

“Dumbass Opossum’s effect: During my Main Phase, if a monster with higher ATK than mine is face-up on my opponent’s field, I can destroy this card myself.”

You Xuan pointed at the newly summoned opossum.

“When a face-up monster with higher attack than this card exists on your opponent’s field during your Main Phase, this card can destroy itself.”

The tiny opossum glanced at the goat on the opponent’s field, gasped sharply.

ATK 1200!

The little opossum glanced at the goat on the opponent’s field and sucked in a sharp breath.

Instantly, the opossum rolled its eyes back, flopped onto the ground, white belly exposed.

I must die right now!

The opossum immediately rolled its eyes, fell onto the ground, and bared its white belly to the sky.

The opossum exploded into a puff of black smoke.

“At this moment, the effect of ‘Forest Warden—Green Baboon’ in my hand activates,” You Xuan said. “When a Beast-type monster on my field is destroyed, I can pay 1000 LP to special summon this card from my hand or graveyard.”

【You Xuan, LP 4000 → LP 3000】

“At this moment, the effect of my hand card, ‘Forest Warden – Green Baboon,’ activates,” You Xuan said. “When a Beast-Type monster on my field is destroyed, I can pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon it from my hand or graveyard.”

(End of Chapter)

Come on, Green Baboon!

(End of Chapter)