Who asked him to play Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 1692 Emergency Synchronization!
Direct attack!

Shingo Hoshino narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming more serious.

The Eternal Flame Archer's attack power is two thousand, which isn't particularly high, but it's certainly not low either. Especially in an environment with four thousand health, taking on that kind of attack one after another still hurts quite a bit.

If the opponent uses this thing again in the next round, two punches will kill him instantly.

Moreover, the opponent had already entered the combat phase, and the only fighting force on the field seemed to be this Eternal Fire Archer. By deflecting this archer, you essentially neutralized the opponent's entire turn of attacks.

Even if the opponent has some hidden tricks up their sleeve, if they continue to develop their strategy after the Infernal Archers are knocked away, they will most likely have to enter the second main phase. In that case, the threat level will be greatly reduced.

After only a couple of seconds of thought, Shingo Hoshino quickly made up his mind.

“Activate the effect of ‘Star Saint: Pleiades’!” Shingo Hoshino said. “Once per turn, removing one Xyz Material will return any card on the field to its owner’s hand.”

And this effect can also be activated during the opponent's turn!

A ring of golden light was absorbed and entered the Pleiades group. Immediately afterwards, the golden light enveloped the archers on You Xuan's field, and it looked like it was about to bounce them back into You Xuan's hands.

Shingo Hoshino's plans actually went beyond that.

He wasn't entirely familiar with the Infernal Flame deck, but he'd at least heard of it. After all, the "Academy" was an all-encompassing dueling center, rich in Synchro, Xyz, Fusion, and even Ritual powers, and its database contained a massive amount of deck information.

Shingo Hoshino roughly knew that Infernal Fire was a deck known as "kill without hand cards".

This is a rather rare system in the entire multiverse. Most normal decks can judge the amount of resources by the number of cards in hand, thereby determining whether the duelist has an advantage in the game.

But Infernal Flame is different. Infernal Flame can only be effective when the player has zero cards in hand; almost all cards in the deck become completely useless when the duelist has cards in hand.

Meanwhile, the opponent's Infernal Archer on the field is still a high-level monster of Zhang Liuxing.

In other words, if you return this card to your opponent's hand, this high-level monster will most likely remain stuck in their hand. If your opponent doesn't find a way to get rid of this high-level monster, they won't be able to meet the "zero hand" condition again.

Even if the opponent uses Tribute Summon to Infernal Archer again next turn, you've at least traded one of their monsters used for Tribute and gained a Normal Summon opportunity next turn, which is still quite a win.

So no matter how you look at it, knocking away the Eternal Fire Archers here is a worthwhile deal.

However, the moment he uttered the command to the Pleiades, he saw the young man opposite him seem to be smiling.

That smile gave him an ominous premonition that his thoughts were entirely within the scope of the smile's calculations.

It was like a silent mockery, saying, "I knew you would do this."

You Xuan snapped his fingers crisply.

"Activate the face-down card, Trap Card 'Emergency Synchro'!"

Shingo Hoshino's pupils contracted: "It's an emergency synchronization?"

This is a card that is universally applicable in any dimension where the concept of Synchro exists; no one would not recognize it.

It was only upon seeing this card that Shingo Hoshino immediately realized that his entire plan had failed.

"Emergency Synchro Summoning: Can only be activated during the Battle Phase. Allows you to Synchro Summon Synchro Monsters from your Extra Deck during the Battle Phase!"

You Xuan waved his hand. "Level two, adjust the monster 'Eternal Flame Beetle'!"
Level 6, 'Eternal Flame Archer'!
Adjust the stars!

【2+6=8】

"The living and the dead intertwine in nothingness, the dragon is released from its eternal prison! Synchro Summon!" You Xuan raised his hand, "Level Eight—"

—Eternal Fire Death Dragon!

The halo of the stars was tainted by darkness, as if the starlight had truly sunk into nothingness. Chaos wove a pitch-black cage, and then the giant cage was torn apart by an invisible force. A dragon, exuding deathly aura, flapped its wings and flew out, letting out a domineering dragon roar, and its wise eyes, which were completely at odds with its domineering roar, darted around.

[Eternal Fire Death Dragon, Attack Power 3000]

"You bastard, you actually used Synchro Summon during the battle phase to dodge the Pleiades' effect." Shingo Hoshino's face darkened.

Astral also explained: "Trap Synchro. It tricked the Pleiades' effect, preventing the Infernal Archer from being stuck in your hand, and it summons a new ace during the battle phase, allowing for further attacks this turn."

This move, combining defense and offense, is quite brilliant.

“Of course, after all, it’s Yugen.” Judai said with a smile, hands on his hips.

Shingo Hoshino: "Don't get too cocky. Activate the face-down card, Trap Card 'Intimidating Roar'!"
This turn, none of your opponent's monsters can declare an attack!

The trap was activated, and endless roaring sonic waves erupted from the trap in his back row, as if an invisible barrier had been blown open on the field. The Infernal Death Dragon, which had just entered the field, was immediately as if an invisible shackle had been placed on it. Although it did not seem to be weakened on the surface, it was already unable to move.

Yuma: "Ah, what a pity! The opponent actually had a backup plan. It's rare for Yugen to have such a beautiful counterattack."

You Xuan didn't seem to care: "Fine, since you're so afraid of my attacks, then I won't attack."

But then he changed the subject and smiled.

"Then the battle phase is over. But my attack isn't over yet."

Shingo Hoshino's heart tightened.

Yu Xuan raised his arm high: "Activate the effect of Infernal Death Dragon! If you have zero cards in your hand, once per turn, you can destroy one monster on your opponent's field and inflict damage equal to half of that monster's ATK!"

He paused, then added with a smile, "As a trade-off, the Infernal Death Dragon cannot attack during the turn it activates its effect. Of course, since your trap effect prevents you from declaring an attack this turn anyway, it seems your traps can only block attacks, which is a real shame."

Shingo Hoshino gritted his teeth.

"So the effect of Infernal Death Dragon is activated," You Xuan said. "It destroys your 'Star Saint Pleiades' and deals damage equal to half of its attack power!"

"Eternal Fire Death Aura!"

The Death Dragon's wise eyes rolled up and down, as if it had been thinking for a while, before it opened its mouth.

But then darkness surged, and a deathly aura gathered in that mouth, transforming into a hellish vortex that exploded forth.

The golden light emanating from the Pleiades seemed to dim under the chaos, and its golden body instantly collapsed and exploded into fragments.

[Shingo Hoshino, LP4000 → LP2750]

(End of this chapter)