My turn—draw!
Wu Ping drew her card, and her expression grew even more serious.
A dead draw. No moves at all.
All she could do now was watch You Ye's field unfold, hoping—praying—that he wouldn't banish too many of her cards, so that at least a sliver of a chance remained.
"I'll move straight to my End Phase. Any objections?" she asked cautiously.
"No," You Ye replied after glancing at his hand and at Baronne de Fleur standing on his field. He shook his head lightly.
"Then, during my End Phase," Wu Ping continued, "I activate the effect of Red-Eyes Wyvern in my Graveyard—banishing it to Special Summon Archfiend Black Skull Dragon from my Graveyard!"
With that, her turn ended.
"My turn—draw!" You Ye drew, then declared calmly during his Standby Phase:
"I choose not to pay 100 Life Points, so my Continuous Spell Messenger of Peace is sent to the Graveyard."
"In Main Phase 1, I activate Baronne de Fleur's effect—targeting your face-down card and destroying it!"
A burst of rose petals shattered the set Magic Cylinder.
You Ye glanced at it, then dismissed it.
For Yellow-Rank duelists just starting to use real cards, it wasn't unusual to think "the higher the ATK, the better."
By contrast, Black-Rank duelists focused on trap counterplay and resource trades—though still quite primitive compared to the meta duels of his past life.
Only Earth-Rank duelists truly began understanding "field building," "board breaking," and "end-board interactions."
In other words, that's when real dueling began.
So, for a mid-tier Black-Rank duelist like Wu Ping, running Magic Cylinder wasn't strange at all.
"Entering Battle Phase—Baronne de Fleur, attack your Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!"
Just then, Wu Ping's eyes lit up.
"I activate my set Trap Card, Mirror Force! When you declare an attack—all Attack Position monsters you control are destroyed!"
As the trap flipped up, a brilliant wall of light surged forward, about to swallow Baronne whole.
You Ye smiled faintly. "The 'Noble Power of Hanno,' is it?
Unfortunately for you—Chain 2, Baronne's effect activates!
Once per turn, when a Spell, Trap, or monster effect is activated, she can negate the activation and destroy that card!"
Baronne raised her shield, and the cascading petals turned into a storm, shredding the Mirror Force's energy and hurling it back.
"Triple Negate…!"
The four women watching were dumbstruck.
This wasn't a simple counter effect—it was Baronne de Fleur's full-spectrum negate, one of the rarest and most powerful forms of interruption!
Even archetypes like Ancient Gear and Swordsoul lacked such a complete negate.
"True Red-Eyes" decks technically possessed a similar monster, but only the strongest duelist of that archetype was ever said to own it.
And yet, You Ye had just casually summoned a card of that caliber!
Their shock soon turned into calculation.
If Baronne merely destroyed one card per turn, she'd already be top-tier.
But adding a once-per-turn omni-negate on top of that?
That wasn't just strong—it was broken.
If this card's existence became public, every faction, every family, every duelist on the continent would fight to obtain it.
Since Wu Ping had no follow-up chain, the effects resolved cleanly:
Chain 2: Baronne's effect resolves successfully — Mirror Force is negated and destroyed.
Chain 1: Mirror Force's effect fails to resolve.
The light barrier shattered, and Baronne's warhorse surged forward through the falling petals.
With a single sweeping slash, her sword cut through the Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, which roared before exploding into fragments of flame.
Wu Ping LP: 9000 → 8500
The impact jolted her back from her shock, her expression tightening. But deep in her eyes, a flicker of understanding appeared.
Now she truly grasped why the White Family patriarch had said that, soon, even their family might not be able to reach You Ye's level.
From this duel alone, it was clear.
He wasn't just skilled.
He was concealing a depth no one could fathom.
"My turn ends."
Wu Ping drew on her next turn and sighed.
No way to break through.
She ended her turn without a move—only for You Ye to calmly have Baronne attack directly on his next turn, shaving away more of her Life Points.
Then came Wu Ping's following draw.
When she looked at the card, her eyes brightened—finally, a chance!
Maybe, just maybe, she could fight back.
"Any response before I enter Main Phase 1?" she asked, looking up.
"Go ahead," You Ye said—and then added seriously,
"But I'll give you one piece of advice: don't resist.
The only reason I'm finishing you quickly is because I'm showing mercy to your master's goodwill. Consider it an act of kindness."
Mu Ning and Sheng Ning nodded silently from the side.
He was right.
For You Ye to even end a duel quickly was already "merciful."
Because true Runick play wasn't fast—it was torment incarnate.
Normally, Runick decks didn't kill their opponents. They made them wish they were dead, locking them out turn after turn, until the deck banished itself into nothingness.
Only someone who'd seen his "Divine Runick OTK" from the Master Duel era would understand how restrained he was being right now.
But Wu Ping didn't answer.
She could feel the truth in his words—but she couldn't give up.
This was her only window to strike back.
"I activate the Spell Card Red-Eyes Fusion!
I send Red-Eyes Soul and Crystal Dragon – Aqua Magician of Faith from my Deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon—Meteor Black Comet Dragon in Attack Position!"
Meteor Black Comet Dragon
[Dragon / Fusion / Effect / DARK / Level 8]
ATK: 3500 / DEF: 2000
"When Meteor Black Comet Dragon is Fusion Summoned, I can send one 'Red-Eyes' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard to inflict damage to you equal to half of that monster's ATK!
I send Red-Eyes Black Dragon—so you take 1200 damage!"
You Ye LP: 7800 → 6600
"I set one card and end my turn!"
Wu Ping thought for a few seconds, glanced at You Ye's face-down card, then decisively ended her turn.
You Ye drew, glanced at his new card, and, seeing no interruptions from her, entered Main Phase 1.
He could read her intentions easily.
She hadn't attacked last turn because she feared his backrow—
and because Red-Eyes Fusion locked her out of Special Summoning.
If Meteor Black Comet Dragon was destroyed that turn, its "parting gift" effect couldn't trigger.
So she'd waited.
A reasonable plan—but ultimately meaningless.
"I activate Baronne de Fleur's effect, targeting your Meteor Black Comet Dragon—destroy it!"
"I chain to that!" Wu Ping exclaimed, slamming her set card open.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Forbidden Chalice, targeting your Baronne de Fleur! She gains 400 ATK, but her effects are negated until the end of this turn!"
Her eyes gleamed—she'd finally drawn something useful!
Resolution:
Chain 2: Forbidden Chalice resolves successfully — Baronne ATK 3000 → 3400, effects negated.
Chain 1: Baronne's destruction effect negated.
Watching her struggle so desperately, You Ye couldn't help but sigh.
She was fighting with everything she had—but it was hopeless.
Her Red-Eyes deck could never overcome his hand resources.
She wasn't fighting for victory anymore—to delay the inevitable.
He ended his turn.
Wu Ping drew again, her face pale but determined.
"Battle Phase! Meteor Black Comet Dragon, attack Baronne de Fleur!"
You Ye exhaled softly. "Ah… why struggle so hard?
From the very start, you never had a chance."
He raised a card.
"Thanks to Runick Fountain's continuous effect, I can activate 'Runick' Quick-Play Spells from my hand during your turn as well!
I activate Runick of Flashing Fire, targeting your Meteor Black Comet Dragon—destroy it!
Then the top two cards of your Deck are banished.
After that, I skip my next Battle Phase."
A barrage of flaming rune bullets rained down on the comet dragon, obliterating it instantly.
"You can activate Runick spells during my turn!?" Wu Ping gasped.
She'd been guarding against his back row this whole time—never realizing the real danger was in his hand!
With his hand full of Runick spells, how was she supposed to win!?
But even knowing that, she refused to give up.
"I activate Meteor Black Comet Dragon's parting effect!
When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Red-Eyes' monster from my Graveyard!
Come forth again—Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!"
"Then, in Main Phase 2, I activate Archfiend Black Skull Dragon's second effect—destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls with DEF lower than this card's ATK!"
"My Archfiend's ATK is 2500—your Baronne's DEF is 2400!
So your Baronne is destroyed!"
Wu Ping launched her second offensive, desperate to take down Baronne and cling to her hope of victory.
But You Ye simply raised his hand.
"Chain 2—Infinite Impermanence, targeting your Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!
Until the end of the turn, its effects are negated, and any Spell or Trap Cards in its column are also negated."
There's a saying: 'Let go of your savior complex and respect others' fates.'
She didn't want to be spared—so You Ye would grant her wish,
letting her lose slowly, painfully, by her own struggle.
"You… you even have Infinite Impermanence!?"
Wu Ping's voice trembled.
That was a top-tier card—something only elite duelists possessed, one of the best hand traps in existence.
She had no idea he carried such a thing casually.
And with that realization came despair.
There was no more fighting this man.
There had never been.