“Beautiful!” Wang Gu’s eyes lit up at the seven-tile hand.
“Activate the effect of <Wightbaking> in the graveyard.
Add <Wightprince> and <Wightprincess> from the Deck to the hand, then discard <Wightprince>.”
“<Wightprince>’s effect: Send 1 each of <Skull Servant> and <The Lady in Wight> from the Deck to the graveyard!”
The resentment lingering in the graveyard thickened, emitting a chilling, eerie black mist.
“Activate the Spell Card, <Monster Reborn>!” Wang Gu played his final hidden card.
“Awaken———–!”
“<The Lady in Wight>!”
DEF: 2200
“Activate the effect of <Wightlord> in the graveyard!”
“Banishing this card, Special Summon———”
“Descend!”
“<King of the Skull Servants>!”
A cold wind howled past.
The bone pile rattled as a terrifying, regal figure slowly rose.
“For each <King of the Skull Servants> and <Skull Servant> in the graveyard…”
“The ATK of <King of the Skull Servants> on the field increases by 1000!”
The two <Kings of the Skull Servants> roared at the sky, black mist surging like a tide, their bodies swelling visibly by the second.
<King of the Skull Servants> ATK: 0 -> 13000
<King of the Skull Servants> ATK: 0 -> 13000
“Victory to the king!”
Wang Gu completed his field, laughing loudly as he spread his arms wide to receive the crowd’s cheers.
“Two <King of the Skull Servants> with 13,000 ATK each!” Hong Mi’s face turned red with excitement.
“Wang Gu’s hand this round is insane!”
Zi Cai looked concerned.
“<The Lady in Wight> grants immunity to Spells and Traps.
Tch, there’s also <Skill Prisoner> in the graveyard.”
“Two <Wightprincesses> are reducing the opponent’s ATK.”
“His hand this round is just too good.”
<The Lady in Wight>: Face-up Level 3 or lower Zombie monsters on the field, except “The Lady in Wight”, cannot be destroyed by battle, also they are unaffected by Spell/Trap Cards and effects.
<Skill Prisoner>: Normal Trap.
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 card you control; this turn, when any monster effect resolves that targeted that card at activation, negate that effect.
“Pity you’re just a numbered citizen.” Wang Gu feigned disappointment, his voice dripping with narcissism.
“You can’t possibly comprehend the perfection of my setup.”
“My turn ends.”
Li Guanqi watched the entire sequence unfold, then lowered his head and clapped furiously.
Amid the applause of praise, there was a faint, unsettling sneer.
“My turn.
Draw.”
He muttered softly, without even glancing at the card he drew.
The time ticked second by second into the Main Phase.
Li Guanqi looked at the four monsters on the opposing field and gave a gasp reminiscent of Yugi Mutou: “Two monsters with 13,000 ATK…”
“Unaffected by Spells and Traps.”
“Can’t be destroyed by battle.”
“So strong.
Too strong.”
He clapped wildly while laughing maniacally.
Wang Gu smirked at the praise: “Hmph, a numbered citizen couldn’t possibly understand———”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence.
Li Guanqi’s smile faded.
His expression turned dark.
“Activate Field Spell———–”
“<Nightmare Throne>.”
“Heroes have their stage.”
“And fiends…
their throne!” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Rumble———- As his voice fell, the ground trembled violently.
A massive crack split open and spread outward like a spiderweb.
From within rose cold, iron-colored pillars, lifting a massive throne that gradually emerged at their summit.
The throne shimmered faintly, emanating an unassailable majesty.
“<Nightmare Throne>?!” Commentators and tens of thousands of spectators gasped in unison.
A numbered citizen…
using a brand-new Deck?!
Wang Gu’s pupils shrank.
His expression turned wary.
“As the effect of <Throne> resolves,” Li Guanqi said coldly, “I destroy <Spirit of Yubel> from the Deck!”
Boom————
<Spirit of Yubel> shattered the moment it manifested from the void.
“Activate <Spirit of Yubel>’s effect!”
He was heating up, something familiar had returned.
“This effect can only activate when it’s destroyed.”
“Special Summon———–” He let out a drawn-out laugh, then slammed down a selected card from the Deck.
“Reveal yourself!”
“<Yubel>!”
The air instantly froze.
A cold, ghostly laugh echoed through the silent Duel Field.
<Yubel> emerged from the summoning circle, a gentle smile on their face.
Chills ran down countless spines.
“Hiss…
that monster…”
“She…
she’s smiling?!”
“So much presence!” Zi Cai finally found a point to erupt and shouted into the mic, “Player 0748 has summoned an incredibly spirited monster, a Level 10 one!
Its ATK must be high———!”
Ding———–
The monster was summoned.
The automated system displayed its stats.
<Yubel>
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
“Zero ATK and DEF?!” Tens of thousands were stunned.
A Level 10 monster…
with zero ATK?!
“What kind of monster…” Wang Gu frowned, deeply unsettled.
“Hahaha!” Li Guanqi chuckled quietly.
“There’s something you said earlier that I really liked.”
“You were right.”
“What a brilliant phrase———-”
“Victory to the king!”
He suddenly dropped the smile and slammed another card down: “Continuous Spell, <Nightmare Pain>!”
Whoosh———-
Countless thorny brambles shot up from the ground, forming a cage.
“What is this?!” Wang Gu flinched instinctively, stepping back.
“Don’t be scared,” Li Guanqi grinned with a twisted smile, “It’s love!”
At the word “love”, Wang Gu felt a chill crawl over his entire body.
“Battle Phase!” Li Guanqi roared, his facial muscles twisted in twisted delight.
“<Yubel>, attack <King of the Skull Servants>!”
<Yubel> gave a cold smile, lightly waving their hand.
Countless thorns activated, slithering like snakes toward the <King of the Skull Servants>.
“Idiot.” Wang Gu scoffed, sneering.
“King of the Skull Servants, counterattack!”
The <King of the Skull Servants>, bewitched by the thorns, charged toward <Yubel>, its claws slashing downward.
Then came the grotesque scene.
The surrounding thorns sprang up, shielding <Yubel> and absorbing the full force of the attack.
And then…
they turned the absorbed power into energy.
Whip-whip-whip————
Thorns rose from the ground and flailed violently in the air, like whips lashing wildly.
“What is this…” Wang Gu stared at the thorny brambles around him, frozen with a creeping dread.
He couldn’t help but take a step back.
“Hahaha———–” Li Guanqi chuckled softly, covering his mouth, head tilted back slightly in eerie joy.
From afar, he almost looked enchanting.
“<Nightmare Pain>’s effect.”
“Any battle damage I would take from a battle involving a <Yubel> monster…
is instead taken by your opponent!”
“What?!” Wang Gu’s eyes widened in horror.
His voice began to tremble.
“The damage…
is taken by the opponent?”
“0 ATK…
13,000 ATK…”
He gasped, throat dry, unable to speak.
“Level 10 pain…”
What he did to Jiang Yan and Mu Ningning———— now, it was his turn.
The very strategy he took pride in, boosting ATK to lethal extremes, had become the blade that turned on him.
“This…
this can’t be…”
“No…”
“I surrender!”
Wang Gu backed away from the advancing brambles until he hit the arena’s barrier, blocking his escape.
Surrendering is not allowed in the league.
That’s why Jiang Yan and Mu Ningning had to suffer through it.
“You reap what you sow.” Li Guanqi growled lowly.
“You don’t get to live.”
Snap———– A clear, sharp whip crack rang out.
Wang Gu’s eyes went wide with terror as the thorns around him went berserk, transforming into green, barbed whips that lashed out from every direction.
Whip after whip, like fiends in a frenzy.
“AAAHHH———-!”
Wang Gu’s screams tore through the arena, echoing with a soul-piercing intensity.
A terrifying burst of Level 10 electrical pain surged from beneath him, making the screams even more harrowing as black smoke rose from his body.
He convulsed, the light fading from his eyes.
Eventually, he slumped, lifeless and silent.
Wang Gu was dead.
He loved to play on high pain settings.
In what should have been easy wins, he had dealt overwhelming damage, one player left injured, another driven insane.
Everyone thought he was a madman playing with death.
Until Li Guanqi stepped in———-
And showed everyone what it truly meant…
to play with death.
The reversal was too fast.
Spectators, commentators, both teams, no one could react.
They stood frozen.
The entire arena fell into dead silence, broken only by the fiend’s low sigh.
“Next.”