Luya watched as Zhongli and Keqing each stepped onto the Duel Stage.
He announced:
"The finals… begin!"
Zhongli and Keqing stood on stage, facing one another. Keqing smiled at Zhongli and said:
"I didn't expect… to meet Mr. Zhongli in the finals," Zhongli said with a smile. "Then let us begin… this Duel."
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
With those two cries, the finals of the Lantern Rite Duel Tournament finally began!
After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Keqing won. Glancing over the cards in her hand, she said decisively:
"I'll take the first turn!"
With Keqing going first, the crowd immediately began discussing.
"How will Lady Yuheng deal with Mr. Zhongli's setup…?"
"In the earlier matches, I saw Lady Yuheng pull [Harpie's Feather Duster]. If she draws it… maybe she can make a big play!"
"Exactly! One card to sweep Mr. Zhongli clean!"
"Yet if Zhongli chains his cards before they get blown away…?"
"From my research, there's something called reverse chain order in a Duel!"
"Simply put… the card activated last resolves first. Which means, as long as you react quickly enough, you won't fear the sweep!"
As the spectators chattered, Keqing finished her setup. She Set two cards and one monster face-down. Her turn ended…
From observing Zhongli's Deck, Keqing had already realized he was running a stall-burn style. So, relying on the experience from clearing dozens of stages on the Duel Game Machine and her knowledge of many Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, Keqing rebuilt a new list on the fly out of the 250 available cards—a targeted counter to Zhongli's Deck.
It was Zhongli's turn… He did the usual: Set four cards and one monster face-down.
No need to think too hard—Zhongli's set monster was either [Marshmallon] or [Stealth Bird], or else a high-DEF Level 4 monster…
[Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World] Level 4│DARK│Fiend│100 ATK / 2100 DEF
Despite being a Normal Monster, it had 2100 DEF—hard to break.
Or perhaps the 2600 DEF…
[Big Shield Gardna] Level 4│EARTH│Warrior│100 ATK / 2600 DEF
Either of these would be nearly impossible for ordinary Level 4s to get through. Attacking into them would just cost Life Points.
Back to Keqing's turn—she drew at once. "[Mystic Swordsman LV2]." Seeing the card, Keqing smiled.
"I activate the Continuous Trap Card—[Royal Decree]."
A city wall rose on the field; squads of soldiers surrounded both Zhongli's and Keqing's sides, as if conducting inspections.
Keqing explained: "While this card remains in the Spell & Trap Zone, the effects of all other Trap Cards on the field are negated."
Hearing this, the spectators cried out:
"Uh oh…"
"Doesn't that mean Mr. Zhongli can't play anymore?!"
"Oho… justice is served, hahahaha!"
"Exactly—too righteous!!!"
"God of Justice, that's your cue~"
As Keqing activated [Royal Decree], the onlookers burst into laughter—more than a few of them had been beaten by Zhongli's tricks.
Then Keqing flipped the monster she had set last turn.
[Goblin Attack Force] Level 4│EARTH│Warrior│2300 ATK / 0 DEF
Four or five goblins, each with a sharp weapon and yellow headscarf, appeared on Keqing's field. Although only Level 4, [Goblin Attack Force] boasted a whopping 2300 ATK!
However, the card had a drawback—after it attacked, it would switch to Defense Position and could not change its battle position until the end of her next turn. Just like its name implied, it specialized in sudden strikes!
Then Keqing began summoning. She slapped the card she had just drawn onto the Summon Zone.
"I Normal Summon [Mystic Swordsman LV2]."
A short-statured youth in purple clothes, a pointed hat on his head and a short sword in hand, stood upright on Keqing's field.
[Mystic Swordsman LV2] Level 2│EARTH│Warrior│900 ATK / 0 DEF
The crowd grew puzzled when they saw Keqing summon a little guy with only 900 ATK.
"Only 900 ATK…"
"Why would Lady Yuheng include that in her Deck?!"
"I've never even seen this card before…"
"That ATK is kinda low…"
Ignoring their doubts, Keqing moved to the Battle Phase. "[Mystic Swordsman LV2]—attack Mr. Zhongli's face-down monster!"
Though small, [Mystic Swordsman LV2] was swift; in a blink it flashed to Zhongli's set monster. Iaijutsu—draw and slash! In an instant, Zhongli's monster was sent to the Graveyard…
Only then did Keqing's voice sound out slowly: "When [Mystic Swordsman LV2] attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, do not conduct damage calculation—destroy that monster in its face-down Defense Position."
Though [Mystic Swordsman LV2] only had 900 ATK, it had the effect to destroy face-down Defense Position monsters without damage calculation.
Zhongli's set monster had been the 2600 DEF [Big Shield Gardna]. [Big Shield Gardna] was destroyed at once and sent to his Graveyard.
Seeing this, the crowd was thrilled!
"What the—!"
"That's how you do it!!"
"This little guy has such a crazy effect!?"
"Looks tiny, but it's incredibly useful…"
"[Mystic Swordsman LV2] is the perfect answer to Mr. Zhongli's monsters…"
Although [Mystic Swordsman LV2] also had an effect to Special Summon [Mystic Swordsman LV4] from the Deck after destroying a face-down monster, Keqing didn't have [Mystic Swordsman LV4] in her Deck. So she didn't use that effect.
Next… "[Goblin Attack Force]—direct attack Mr. Zhongli!"
Because Keqing's [Royal Decree] was on the field, all other Traps were negated. Zhongli couldn't move at all… He already knew how this would end…
Zhongli sighed inwardly. So, this way of playing isn't invincible after all…
The goblin squad charged at Zhongli with their weapons raised! Zhongli didn't flinch—he took the 2300 Battle Damage head-on. He was left with only 1700 Life Points…
Keqing smiled with total confidence. "My turn ends!"
With Keqing's turn over, Zhongli began his. "Draw…"
[Stealth Bird].
Zhongli shook his head and Set [Stealth Bird] in Defense Position. Then he ended his turn…
Faced with Keqing's combination of [Royal Decree] and [Mystic Swordsman LV2], Zhongli had no way through. His Deck was basically all Trap Cards! With [Royal Decree] up, there was nothing he could do. And with [Mystic Swordsman LV2] on top of that, even set monsters would be destroyed outright.
After a tug-of-war of a turn or two, Keqing defeated Zhongli directly!
At last, before night fell, Liyue's Lantern Rite Duel Tournament had its result—Keqing was the champion!
Once the [Lantern Cup] tournament concluded, the system's voice rang out at once.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the side quest.]
[You successfully hosted a Duel tournament!]
[Calculating…]
[Generating Reward…]
[Rewarded Skill: Divine Hand Lv1]
[Rewarded Item: Card Shredder]
[Reward: 100,000,000 Mora!]
Hearing the system prompts, Luya hurried to check the skill reward. It was the first time he had obtained a skill!
[Divine Hand Lv1 (Upgradeable)]
╵Manifest the monster on a card into reality, granting it a physical form. You possess absolute control. At Level 10, you can also manifest Trap and Spell Cards!
╵Maximum simultaneous summons: 1
╵Maximum Monster Level: 1
╵Upgrade cost: 1,000,000 Mora
Seeing this new skill rewarded by the system, Luya was overjoyed! If that's the case—doesn't that mean he can summon monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh! into Teyvat and go wild!? But his level wasn't high enough yet… He needed to upgrade.
The upgrade requirement didn't seem difficult—only 1,000,000 Mora.
Then Luya checked the Card Shredder.
[Card Shredder]
╵Can grind cards into dust to forge other cards.
Luya looked over the machine. It seemed pretty good; with this, customers could turn their extra cards into the ones they wanted. They could assemble their desired Decks faster…
There was also the 100 million Mora reward. Luya decided to upgrade his skill after the tournament matters were wrapped up!
With the Dueling finished, it was time to award the prizes to the top four. Luya thought for a moment… At the moment, what his shop could offer as prizes were Mora and card packs. But there weren't enough packs to go around. So he chose Mora as the prize pool for the Lantern Rite Duel Tournament.
First Place, Keqing: 30,000,000 Mora.
Second Place, Zhongli: 10,000,000 Mora.
Third and Fourth, Xiao and Ningguang: 5,000,000 Mora each.
...
With that, the Lantern Rite tournament came to a close. Thanks to the festival bringing many new customers to Luya's shop, he sold out of all products with ease that day…
As night fell, everyone left early for the Lantern Rite—except Zhongli, who remained in the shop. Luya knew what Zhongli was waiting for… They exchanged a smile and sat at an empty table. Xiao somehow popped out from who-knows-where…
Just then, a woman with elegant features, in crimson gauze, floral makeup, and red-rimmed glasses, entered the shop. It was Xianyun—the human form of Cloud Retainer.
Her black and blue hair intertwined; she wore a cloud-shoulder mantle with two long tails at the back like a crane's wings. Her hair was tied high in a ponytail; jade-like teal gleamed on the inner locks and on the mantle. Her earrings were a double-ring knot.
Xianyun excelled in mechanisms and arcane arts, loved the mortal world's flames and smoke, adored cuisine, was apt at invention, and mastered adeptal talismans.
Before the Archon War, Xianyun associated closely with Guizhong, Streetward Rambler, the Stove God, and other Adepti, often competing with Guizhong in mechanical arts.
A thousand years ago, she followed the Emperor in war, guarding Liyue. Back then she often took human form—decisive, clever, and widely respected. After the war she secluded herself at Mt. Aocang, living freely, and more often appeared as a crane.
Though she claimed to be poor at socializing, she knew many; people found Xianyun humorous, talkative, warm-hearted, and easy to get along with.
Before Xianyun could speak, the Card Furnace that was refining [Goddess of Dust – Guizhong] suddenly burst with smoke!
In the next instant, Luya's shop turned into the Guili Plains of daylight—wild Glaze Lilies bloomed everywhere… and a single card appeared at the Card Furnace's opening.
Then the card shone with dazzling light, and the phantom of a petite girl with ash-cyan hair flew out from its face. Her great sleeves hid her arms.
It was… the Goddess of Dust who perished in the Archon War a millennium ago—Guizhong!
...
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