Duels should be played with a smile.

"Then, for me, the safest way is to set up a formation that you can't break with any of your four cards, to directly suppress you and defeat you."

Darkness knew very well that Leyou had already passed the game with an empty field, and that he currently had an immense advantage. There was no need to risk being blocked by three cards in his hand to force a kill.

"Then, it's my turn, draw a card."

Two cards in my hand, one is the agreement card I just got back, and this one I drew... I'm speechless.

"The last time, I paid 700 LP, and I still have 400 LP left."

Royal decrees cannot be deliberately ignored; payment will always be made as long as LP is greater than 700.

Therefore, there is a possibility that you could reach exactly 700LP and then immediately pay out 0, resulting in instant death.

So this thing can get stuck.

"Enter the main phase, activate the face-down trap card [Reckless Greed], draw 2 cards from your deck, and then skip 2 draw phases."

As long as the resources in this round can be utilized, even without drawing cards later, it will be enough to win this duel.

If it weren't for the imperial decree being present, preventing the drawn pot from being opened, the chances of winning this duel would have been much greater.

After drawing two cards and thinking about them carefully, Darkness felt that his luck seemed a bit strange.

If I had known in advance which two cards I would draw, I might have been able to defeat them.

For now, we can only wait.

Leyou precisely caught Darkness's slight pause, and he glanced at the hand he had been holding since the beginning of the game, and smiled silently.

It seems to still be in the planning stages.

"The effect of [Altering Spirit - Search Common Card] in your hand: Once per turn, if you use a [Altering Spirit] monster on your field as Link Material for a [Altering Spirit] Link Monster, this card in your hand can also be used as Link Material."

"Circuit revealed! I will query the arrows for Puka and Seeking Melusin!"

"The summoning condition is 2 [Phantom Spirit] monsters!"

"O Goddess of the Beginning, with your magnanimous heart protect your companions, descend from your divine throne!"

"Link 2! [Phantom Spirit: Sixteen Witches Hestia]!"

The warm fire illuminates the darkness, dispels the cold, and protects all its companions. The only designated eldest sister of the Phantom Spirit family, a powerful monster that combines fierce attacks, counterattacks, and searches, has now made its debut.

It is also the only native link monster in the Darkness extras.

[Flame - Link 2 - Mage - Attack Power 1500 - Arrow ↓ →]

"The Continuous Effect of Sixteen Witches: This card gains ATK equal to the original ATK of the [Transfiguration] monster in this card's Link Zone. Since there is a 1200 ATK Faker in her Link Zone, her ATK is increased to 2700."

"At the same time, since Seeker Melusin has moved from the field to the graveyard, I can search for a Metamorphosis monster, and I add [Metroid Puppet Master] to my hand."

"And, regarding the second effect of the card, the card name can only be used once in a duel. If this card exists in the Graveyard, and a Link Monster of the [Phantom Spirit] is successfully Link Summoned to your field, you can activate this effect and add it to your hand."

Any effect that is restricted to being used only once in a duel is basically the kind that would immediately banish you to the "blacklist" if there were no restrictions.

With its hand link and freebies, if it weren't for the fact that checking common cards only adds to the appeal of Ethereal Spirit rather than providing essential support, this card's status would be much higher than it is now.

"Then there are the network puppeteers that are retrieved, which I usually summon."

"The card name can be activated once per turn. When the card is successfully summoned, you can search your deck for 1 [Transfiguration] Trap Card and set it in the back row."

"I will cover [Phantom Spirit Materialization]."

"Change all other monsters on the field to Attack Position and enter the Battle Phase!"

Sixteen witches with 2700 attack power, a puppeteer with 1600, a faker with 1200, and a feather spirit with 800.

This is the maximum attack power Darkness can create under the current circumstances—because the attack power increase effect of Sixteen Witches is strictly limited to the link zone, and the arrows of Sixteen Witches are not particularly perfect. Under Darkness's current monster positions, even if a second Sixteen Witches is created, it is impossible to increase the field attack power to over 7500.

Therefore, instead of trying to adjust the positioning, it's better to directly rely on external forces and include Bayonet Gunner and Access Code Talker in the Extra Deck to improve the finishing ability. Otherwise, it's quite awkward to annoy people to death but not be able to kill them.

A full 6300 points of damage were poured onto Leyou, and now Leyou's LP was almost gone.

[Leyou LP: 7500 → 1200]

"Entering main phase 2."

"Use my Faker and Puppet Master as link materials to link and summon the second Sixteen Witches."

"Set a Trap Card face down, end your turn."

There are two Sixteen Witches on the field, one Feathered Elf, and a three-star card in the back row, along with a decree card that is about to be destroyed.

We don't yet know what that unknown face-down card among the three back row cards is, but based on the information we have so far, it's not a situation that can be easily overcome with four cards in hand.

Moreover... the actions of the Shapeshifter during its own turn are merely preparations for causing chaos during the opponent's turn.

"It seems you're still a step behind. My last 1200 LP points might be an insurmountable chasm for you."

With his hand on top of the deck, Leyou didn't rush to draw any cards.

In his perception, Ella was about to arrive, not far from here.

"Are you waiting for reinforcements? The penalty is to pay half of your initial LP. If you want to face my formation with only 4000 LP, the outcome is hard to say."

Darkness also sensed someone approaching, but it wasn't Ella he sensed; rather, it was his target.

“No.” Leyou shook his head solemnly. “Only when it comes to duels, I don’t really like anyone causing trouble, whether that person is an enemy or a friend.”

"Besides, in my opinion, there's really no need to deal with you at all, I..."

"It's necessary! It's absolutely necessary!"

From behind, a voice unfamiliar to Leyou interrupted his narration.

Turning around, I didn't see anyone else besides Ella, except that Ella was holding a card in her hand that I couldn't tell if it was white or red.

The sound seemed to be coming from inside the card.

"Boss! I'm here! I'm here to help you!"

"Quick! Add me to your Extra Deck! This will greatly enhance your Fusion deck!"

Leyou was a little stunned. He looked at the card that Ella was holding by one corner and shaking it vigorously to show its presence. After thinking for a long time, he finally uttered a sentence.

"Where did this simp come from?"

A cold wind seemed to blow by, and the card that had been swaying back and forth stopped moving.

It seemed as if they had suffered a great blow.

"Besides... I have a pure Brand deck, a pure Fusion deck, where am I going to put a Slug in there?"

Like the DM world, this world doesn't have a limit of 15 cards, at least not before using cards involving an extra number.

However, at least in the previous world, very few people who used branding techniques were actually from the lower realms.

Fusion glory? That's my mark of fusion, what does it have to do with you, Azure Lock Dragon Serpent?

"Boss! I'm begging you! Please add me to your deck, and then use my power to kill this guy! I want revenge!"

The extent to which it was so outgoing was beyond imagination. Leyou found it hard to fathom what mindset and demeanor the Azure Lock Dragon Serpent had when it uttered such words.

Ella's expression was somewhat subtle at this moment, because she had seen the humanoid anaconda before, and considering that the anaconda was once a part of Leyou, she couldn't help but overlap the image of the anaconda with the image of Leyou.

It seems perfectly natural.

"You...you're pretty vengeful..."

"Great, just my style! If I get beaten up, I'll definitely get my revenge!"

"In that case, let's put everything else aside for now and I'll grant you this small request!"

"Cala!"

With a wave of her hand, the anaconda flew out of Ella's hand and into Leyou's extra deck, which was filled with an unknown number of cards.

Then it replaced the previous blank card, the Anaconda, which had no elf host.

The reason we don't have enough space for the branded anaconda is because we don't have enough extra space. If we really don't need more space, then it wouldn't be a problem to squeeze in one more.

When the Anaconda, the card spirit representing fusion, returned to Leyou's Extra Deck, Leyou discovered that... his Extra Deck had undergone a massive multiplier.

It seems that all the fusion cards have appeared in his extra.

Just as Ella had given him all the numbered cards before, the anaconda brought all the fusion cards.

"Didn't you say you didn't like any complications in your duels?" Darkness felt like he'd been tricked by this person again.

Just like before, they were having a good talk, then suddenly they started a duel.

This time was no different. One second she said she didn't want any support, and the next second she stuffed a card into the extra compartment right in front of him.

He only saw one card go into the anaconda.

"There's no need to worry about such trivial matters, is there?"

"Besides, if we really want to explain, isn't this just creating unnecessary trouble?"

As a seasoned hypocrite, making up excuses is just a piece of cake for Leyou.

Leyou took out the anaconda card again and placed it in his hand along with the Yata-U that he had taken from the crystal in his chest. He smiled slightly.

"The term 'branching out of the joint' refers to the places where branches and leaves grow. Other branches sprout from the joints."

"But...they and I are of the same origin."

Under Darkness's puzzled gaze, Leyou stuffed the anaconda and Yata-u together into the crystal on his chest.

They took it out, then put it back in, then took it out again, then put it back in again.

As if worried about Darkness's eyesight, Leyou thoughtfully reminded her, "Can you see it?"

Only after Darkness, who was completely dumbfounded, nodded blankly did he slowly put the anaconda back into the Extra Deck, then returned to the duel and drew the card that was already destined at the top of his deck.

"Since we are all born from the same root, how can there be any talk of extraneous branches?"

Leyou wasn't talking nonsense. After receiving the anaconda, he had a sudden realization.

He was once Eternal Calamity, but now he is merely Pleasure. He is a part of Eternal Calamity, but not the whole of it.

The original Eternal Calamity existed as a concept, a high-level existence beyond the comprehension of normal humans, and would not possess the various emotions that humans have now.

This also answers a somewhat absurd idea—his relationship with the Snow Woman Ellafilwo and the others... well... it wasn't exactly... well, it wasn't exactly self-relationship.

Wait a minute, does this mean we're considered close relatives again?

Forget it, this kind of question can't be thought about too deeply, and can't be approached with ordinary concepts. It should be explained like this: high-ranking races possess concepts that are different from those of ordinary beings.