Chapter 24: Two in a Row, Famous After a Single Battle (4)

"The face-down card is [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter]!" Zicai shouted, "Player Qingji was careless!"

"It’s her first time facing a new deck; she lacks experience!"

The fans of Bian Yuelong stood up again, cheering wildly: "She blocked it!"

To judge a duelist's level, one generally uses three criteria: [Deck Building], [Operation], and [Game Sense].

So-called game sense is knowing when to interrupt [Branded Fusion] while playing against [Branded], when to negate [Crystron Halqifibrax] against Pendulums, how to play around [Nibiru, the Primal Being], and when to clear backrow or set up negates before attacking.

When two duelists play the same deck, the operations are usually fixed, and the builds are largely similar.

But their game sense can be worlds apart.

This is why, in ranking activities like KC, DC, or MC, the top-tier duelists are often those same few IDs.

Precious game sense is earned through countless battles, becoming an instinct rooted in one's DNA.

Like Qingji, even though she had confirmed all the effects of [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] before the match, she hadn't formed the necessary game sense yet when facing [Yubel] for the first time. Her limited focus was entirely on the reflective damage from [Nightmare Pain] and the graveyard effects of the [Yubel] monsters.

"Oh no..." Qingji thought to herself, realizing the danger. [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] cannot be destroyed by battle, and she takes no battle damage either.

"I can't finish her off..."

She frowned, bit her lip, and said, "Ending the Battle Phase..."

[Illegal Declaration]

The smart referee issued a cold sound.

"Huh? Why?!" Qingji looked confused.

Again, due to a lack of game sense, she had forgotten something.

She slowly looked up, met Li Guanqi's gaze, and felt a chill run through her entire body.

"[Nightmare Pain] is on the field." Li Guanqi’s mouth curled into a smirk. "As long as you control a [Yubel] monster, any of your opponent's monsters that can attack must attack the [Yubel] monster."

"Hahaha..."

"Come on!"

"Let's see your love!"

"Forced attack..." Qingji's eyes widened again.

She slowly recalled; it seemed there was such an effect.

"Heh—" [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] let out a charming laugh.

[Lamia]'s eyes flashed with dazzling red light, her body twisted irregularly, then lost control, baring her fangs as she charged toward [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter].

"[Nightmare Pain] forces the attacks as well!" Zicai shouted excitedly, "Three monsters are forced to attack! A huge reversal!"

It was supposed to be a crisis with three monsters attacking.

With just the small addition of the special summon of [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter], he had turned the tables in one fell swoop!

"Do something, Qingji!" The Qianque Palace coach roared from behind the barrier.

If he were to be wiped out by a player with a numbered ID, his career as a coach would be over.

"Remedy... remedy..." Qingji looked frantically at the various zones on her duel disk.

When she saw her hand, her gaze suddenly froze, and a joyful smile slowly spread across her lips.

"Activating the effect of [Wightprincess]!"

Qingji sent a card from her hand to the graveyard and shouted.

"Sending this card from my hand to the graveyard."

"All monsters on the field have their ATK and DEF reduced by the level or rank multiplied by 300 until the end of the turn!"

Li Guanqi frowned, his smile slowly fading.

The effect of [Wightprincess] does not distinguish between friend and foe.

Eerie laughter of skeletons echoed in the air, casting a dark halo that eroded the monsters on the field.

[Lamia] ATK: 2100 → 300

[Washuji] ATK: 2600 → 200

[Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] ATK: 0 → 0

"Beautiful!" Hong Mi shouted upon seeing this, "[Wightprincess] lowered her own attack, the reflected damage is greatly reduced!"

The Qianque Palace fans stood up and cheered.

The Bian Yuelong fans sat back down in disappointment.

"Snap—"

The thorns of pain absorbed the onslaught and reflected it back to the opponent.

Blue side LP: 4000 → 3700

Ignoring the 300 damage that felt like a mere scratch, Qingji smiled carelessly, "That was dangerous."

She had originally added [Wightprincess] to lower the opponent's attack; if she could lower it to 0, it could combo with the [Reptilianne] effect.

She hadn't expected it could also lower her own attack to save her life.

"Not bad," Li Guanqi smiled slightly.

This [Wightprincess] was not within his game sense; his way of thinking was still stuck in OCG and hadn't integrated into this segment.

"Not as good as you," Qingji narrowed her eyes, "[Lamia], [Washuji], attack [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter]!"

"Snap, snap—"

Two waves of minor reflective damage.

Blue side LP: 3700 → 3400 → 3200

"Ending the Battle Phase." Qingji entered Main Phase 2 and played a card, "Activating the Spell Card, [Monster Reborn]."

"Special Summoning [Wightprincess]."

"Set one card, turn end."

Second turn ends.

Front row: [Lamia] x2, [Wightprincess], [Washuji]

Back row: One set card

Field: [Reptilianne Recoil]

Hand: One facedown card

Blue side LP: 3200

"End Phase." Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, "Activating the effect of [Graveyard Worm] from my hand, special summoning this card, without destroying any cards."

Red side Chronicle Counters: 12

"My turn."

Li Guanqi pressed his fingertips against the top of his deck, and the sound of chains breaking echoed in the void.

"Draw!"

[Phantom Torture Giant]

The deck's brick finally ended up in his hand, but it could actually be used at this moment.

His gaze swept over Qingji's field; there were four points of concern: one face-down card, one set backrow card, [Reptilianne Recoil] to induce monster theft, and [Wightprincess] to lower ATK during damage calculation.

With 3200 LP, it would most likely require more than two attacks.

It was quite troublesome; [Magical Musketeer Caspar] couldn't change the monster effects during damage calculation, so he couldn't control [Wightprincess].

While thinking, the timing reached the Main Phase.

He didn't need to overthink the first step. Li Guanqi waved his hand and said, "Activating the effect of [Mature Chronicle], removing four Chronicle Counters to destroy one card on the field without targeting!"

No matter the strategy, clearing the backrow first is always the right move.

"Flipping my set card—" Qingji frowned and waved her hand, "[Snake Rain]!"

"Targeting 1 Reptile-type monster on my field and 2 cards on your field, destroy those cards."

"Burn!"

A sea of fire rose up, [Lamia] was sacrificed with a painful wail, turning into pitch-black resentment that surged toward [Mature Chronicle] and [Nightmare Pain].

"Chain activation, [Eternal Favorite]!" Li Guanqi flipped his set card, "Targeting [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] in the graveyard, special summon that card."

Activating it as Chain Link 3, the figure of [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter] appeared once again.

[Mature Chronicle] and [Nightmare Pain] melted in the burning sea; the Continuous Spell was destroyed, and the destruction effect of Chain Link 1 did not resolve.

"Activating the summoning effect of [Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter]," Li Guanqi said, "Setting [Nightmare Pain] onto the field."

Qingji squeezed the [Droll & Lock Bird] in her hand tightly and bit her lip slightly.

This bastard's dueling was damnably precise.

[Yubel - Das Ewig Liebe Wächter]'s summoning effect was actually a choice between searching or setting.

Setting it could defend against [Droll & Lock Bird].