Duels should be played with a smile.

Of course, even without Earthbound God, that deck is still very strong.

“Interesting.” Marseille Bane, who had been expressionless, twitched slightly at the corner of his mouth and gave a faint smile. It was unclear what he was thinking when the greatsword in his hand suddenly pointed directly at Carly, making Carly panic.

"In that case, I've chosen you!"

"Let the trials descend! Others are unnecessary! Only the self matters!"

The next second, Carly felt her handbag suddenly become much lighter. She subconsciously opened the handbag, only to find a puff of black smoke coming out of it—the deck inside had been corrupted again.

At the same time, a slight tremor came from all around, and Carly instantly understood—just like the last time the Snow Woman was forced to start a duel, this time, it was her turn.

After taking all five decks out of her bag and examining them, Carly breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The secret weapon is still there! By temporarily patching up some missing cards from other decks, we can win this duel!

But... how did they suddenly start fighting?

Who exactly is this guy named Marseille Benn?

Without giving Carly any time to think, the Millennium Scales descended upon the place after announcing the trial. After helping the two duelists agree on the stakes, it unleashed a mysterious power, pushing the dragon away from Carly and onto a non-existent audience seat.

Just like clocking in for work, the two dice that determine fate reappear.

However... this time, it seems that the voice of destiny is not on anyone's side.

[Marseille Bann: 1 point]

[Kali: 1 point]

The first time they met, both players rolled a 1, and Carly frowned.

This guy... is weird.

After about a minute or two, the dice, which seemed to have crashed, started working again. The previous dice disappeared, and two other dice appeared.

This time, a 20-sided die appeared—as if the will of the world was saying, "Try to draw again if you dare."

The 20-sided die began to spin, and Marseille Bane's die stopped first. Carly saw the number, and was initially delighted, but then became even more worried.

This time, Marseille Bann is still a bit...

Carly had 11 o'clock this time, but Carly, who had the right to make the decision, did not make the first move immediately.

She was thinking.

This guy... could he just always order 1 point? If so, wouldn't he just be passively waiting all the time?

Carly felt she had discovered a blind spot—in this environment where being first to act was paramount, what was the best course of action if she couldn't gain the power to make decisions every time?

The answer is, a deck specializing in going second.

The image of Snowflake's bad deck instantly flashed into Carly's mind—she had seen more than once how Kro or Jack, when dueling with Leyou, were stopped by a bunch of counter-attack cards, and then clearly dealt with by cards like Winged God Egg, Lava Demon, and Turtle.

"I choose to go second in this duel!"

Perhaps by some twist of fate, when the deck was being corrupted, Carly discovered that many of her general-purpose cards had also been corrupted. After losing those general-purpose cards, the risk of the deck getting stuck with a bad hand increased significantly. In order to deal with this situation, Carly chose the simplest, most direct, and most effective method.

A hole for your hands.

Having anticipated this situation, Carly carried five decks, ensuring that in addition to having at least two sets of general-purpose cards, she also wanted as many hand traps as possible, and there was no limit to the types.

This is exactly the kind of situation that comes in handy!

As long as you have enough hand traps, there's nothing you can't stop!

Marseille-Bane didn't seem to have any particular opinion about Carly's decision to go first, as if he already knew the outcome. After announcing the official start of the duel, he and Carly drew their cards together.

In the first round, Marseille Benn goes first.

Perhaps because the duel had begun, Marseille Bane, who was using his greatsword as a duel disk and transforming the sun pattern on the sword into cards, seemed rather quiet at this moment.

Until he spoke.

That one sentence was earth-shattering.

"The effect of the card 【Tears of Elegy - Sirens Mermaid】 in my hand: This card is cardurned from my hand, then 1 monster from my hand is sent to the Graveyard, and then 3 more are sent from my Deck to the Graveyard. Does this create a chain?"

Chapter Twenty-Eight: So what if it's super mainstream? Does that mean it won't get stuck with bad luck?

Cat's meow: Meow.

Sheep's bleating: Baa baa.

The cow moossing: Flower Gate.

The card dealer yelled: "Go steal the dog!"

The card dealer asked: "Is there a chain?"

When Kali saw her opponent pull out a Tearful Lament card and ask if it had a chain, she felt like she was doomed.

In the past, she might have had to experience the horror of the Tears of the Pearl before she could understand what this deck truly represented.

However, beforehand, Leyou gave them a document that recorded many decks they had never seen before, but whose strength was somewhat lacking, including the famous Pearl Tears Elegy deck.

The comment given was that it was "a standard deck that was printed out by the enemy to destroy the world."

During his duel with Jaden, he searched through the entire Chronicle deck but couldn't find this deck. However, after Yuki-onna was injured, when he looked through it again, he discovered that the Chronicle deck suddenly had many cards that he had never seen before.

Even though there were quite a few filler cards and some old-fashioned "cash-grabbing" buffs like the Ninja series to distract from the main story, none of them overshadowed the brilliance of the Tearful Elegy Clan. When he saw the update of the Tomb Keeper Clan cards, he thought that Isis from this world had shown some new possibilities during her trip to Egypt with Yugi and the others. But considering the appearance of the Tearful Elegy Clan, he couldn't help but suspect that DogK was secretly adding buff cards.

Is there a chain?

As if growing impatient, Marseille Bann urged again.

Carly examined her hand, looking troubled, her mind racing as she recalled the information she had previously seen about the Tear of the Gods deck and how to deal with it.

A moment later, Carly waved her hand weakly, like a deflated balloon, as if she had given up the fight.

Her long hair and large round-framed glasses obscured most of her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

"No...you can continue."

A thoughtful look flashed in Marseille Bane's eyes. He was not a reckless person, and he had noticed Carly's hesitation just now.

The game of duels isn't just about the interaction between cards; every move a duelist makes is also a silent game.

Marseille Bane always judged others by his own standards, and after seeing Carly's actions, a conjecture came to his mind.

'It's not that there's no chain reaction, but rather a quick, no-trap play... so there's a possibility of a trap in hand. If there are multiple traps, you don't need to think for that long, so it's highly likely there's a trap card you're preparing to use at a crucial moment!'

'Heh, my deck isn't something that can be stopped by a simple hand trap.'

"Since there is no chain reaction, then we should focus on the effect."

After mentally rehearsing various ways to deal with hand traps, Marseille Bane no longer hesitated and began to act.

Once the tears start flowing, they can't be stopped so easily!

"Mermaid effect: Special Summon myself, send 'Tearful Melo Mermaid' from my hand to the Graveyard, and then add 3 cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard!"

A tiny mermaid appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by ocean currents, splashing water as she entered the arena. Her exquisite face made Carly and Longke, two girls who didn't care much about their appearance, subconsciously compare themselves to the mermaid.

"It seems... we lost." Carly looked at the lively siren mermaid with some disappointment.

"They're evenly matched..." Long Ke sighed inwardly.

"What do these two women mean by staring at my monster?" Marseille Bane was a little confused about women's thought processes.

My deck is mass-produced and doesn't contain any spirits. Is this soulless, inanimate object even worth paying attention to?

Marseille-Ban felt that his journey was still long, and if he wanted to measure everything in the world with his own understanding, he first had to figure out the most difficult creature in the world to understand—women.

As the tide surged, the siren mermaid wielding her staff somewhat stiffly manipulated the flowing water, sending the three cards at the top of Marseille Bane's deck to the graveyard. Those three cards consisted of two monsters and one trap, with the two monster cards exuding an aura completely out of place with the Elegy of Tears.

Four cards were sent to the graveyard at once. Marseille Bane checked them but did not immediately activate the effect of the Mermaid that had been sent to the graveyard.

No rush, there will be plenty of opportunities later.

"At this moment, I will activate the effects of the two cards that were sent to the graveyard!"

"Selfie Chain, firstly, the effect of C1 [Ancient Vanguard Kelpock] is activated by the field and abilities sent from the hand or Deck to the Graveyard, and 5 cards are placed in the Graveyard on top of both players' Deck!"

"C2, the effect of [Ancient Guardian Argento] is the same as that of Ancient Vanguard: remove the top 5 cards from both players' decks to the Graveyard!"

A cruel smile appeared on Marseille's face.

Two cards form a self-chain, and even with Yashiki-doji, it's impossible to stop this graveyard piling. And once this graveyard piling is completed, then... the real show is about to begin!

Building up graveyards for both sides not only gives them more resources to use, but also allows them to discern the composition of their opponent's deck!

"Come on, let me see what kind of power you possess that makes someone with an independent will like you want to rely on others?"

"Is it because you are too weak that you chose to abandon your own will and depend on others?"

“What do you know?!” Carly replied impatiently, her brows furrowed.

She genuinely couldn't understand whether this guy was a diode or just a single dog who didn't understand love.

Does falling in love mean giving up your own will to depend on someone else? Carly isn't some kind of simp... at least not now!

Her status in the family is a whole head higher than Jack's!

Marseille Bane found it hard to understand why Carly had suddenly become angry. He wanted to answer, but when he remembered Carly and Long Ke staring at his monster and Carly's inexplicable anger, he changed his mind.

"What do I know... Thinking about it carefully, I really can't understand your way of thinking. Before I was sent here, I had a feeling that you would be an interesting soul. Unfortunately, now I only feel regret that I can't understand you."

Marseille Bann's tone was slightly low, and he lowered his head, staring at the ground, as if questioning himself and reflecting on his actions.

The strange situation left Carly unsure for a moment. Just as she was about to ignore the guy and follow suit, she noticed that he suddenly raised his head again.

"In that case, I'll just give up on trying to understand your idea! I was being a bit too arrogant."

Marseille Bann's expression was slightly ferocious, but he was definitely smiling, which gave people a very awkward feeling.

"There's no need to understand the thoughts of anyone other than myself! Once I defeat you and seize your souls, I will naturally be able to know your thoughts from within them!"

"Just like now! Ancient Vanguard! Ancient Guards! Bury our souls! And then expose them to the world!"

"Soul stripping!"

The bizarrely shaped ancient vanguard and guards, resembling artifacts unearthed from a tomb, appeared together in the graveyard, about to wipe out most of both players' decks. However, Carly, who hadn't had time to react due to Marseille Bane's strange behavior, finally made her response.

"Don't get your hopes up! I still have a way to deal with this!"

"Oh? Please, a regular hand trap can't withstand my invincible Tearful Sorrow... What are you?!"