Come forth—my strongest terminal monster! The one that can shut down all your Spells with just a single card!
"Synchro Summon—[Naturia Beast]!"
Naturia Beast
[Beast / Synchro / Effect / EARTH / Level 5]
ATK: 2200 / DEF: 1700
As his declaration echoed out, a strange creature appeared on the field—its tiger-like body fused with wooden limbs, radiating primal power. The creature turned its wooden head slightly, casting a glance back at An Chong (Dark Bug) with eyes filled not with pride, but disappointment.
Yu Ye's expression twisted in confusion.
Naturia Beast—the strongest terminal? What happened to Naturia Exterio? Has the Dragon of the Woods been removed from Naturia's lineup?
What Yu Ye didn't know was that Naturia Exterio was too difficult to obtain—and even if you had it, summoning it consistently in Naturia decks was near impossible. Over time, even sub–Heaven–tier duelists had given up on it entirely.
An Chong, of course, noticed none of this. As Naturia Beast emerged, his cold, snake-like grin spread with satisfaction. Watching nearby, the black-robed observer nodded slightly.
The trump card, Naturia Beast, had arrived. This duel was as good as over.
It wasn't that Yu Ye was weak—no. It was that his entire deck, God Monument (Runick), was composed of Spells. With Naturia Beast on the field, and without cards like Skill Drain in his deck, Yu Ye's entire strategy was locked out.
If Yu Ye were using any other archetype, the black-robed man wouldn't be so confident.
But none of them noticed that Muning, who'd been silently watching, showed not fear—but the faintest trace of a mysterious smile.
"'Weed Out' to summon Naturia Beast, backed by Chaos Hunter and burn traps…" Yu Ye muttered under his breath. "No wonder people say An Chong's the one duelist here who might actually beat me."
That combination truly could crush a standard Runick deck like Muning's earlier build.
Unfortunately for An Chong, Yu Ye's deck wasn't "standard" at all.
Even with Naturia Beast, he didn't stand a chance.
So what if the caveman's strong? Even if you have a knife, can you compete with modern artillery?
Of course not.
Yu Ye could barely hold back his excitement.
Naturia field cards! He hadn't expected that. Soon, he'd own them.
Once combined with his Runick core and a few key cards he'd earned from the Duel Association, his "Divine Runick" deck would be nearly complete—only a few Extra Deck slots missing.
Black duelists really were great guys, weren't they?
"You should know what Naturia Beast's effect does," An Chong hissed, eyes gleaming. "Are you afraid now? Terrified? Trying to think of a way to protect yourself with Runick Spells or a field to summon something to deal with it?"
"Hahahaha! Let me make it clear—you can't!"
"Every Spell you play, I'll negate. Every single one. You won't get to activate even one! And your monsters—starting with that little S:P Little Knight—I'll crush them one by one. I won't even give you the chance to Synchro Summon!"
"You'll burn to death or be beaten to death. Either way, you'll join us!"
As Naturia Beast took the field, Yu Ye said nothing. His silence only made An Chong more arrogant, already beginning his victory speech.
"I'll declare the battle phase! But due to my restriction, I'll skip the battle and end my turn!"
Yu Ye suppressed the grin threatening to break free. Poor An Chong—one Naturia Beast, and he's talking about killing Little Knight? How much had he been drinking?
"Hmph! Keep acting arrogant while you can—let's see if you're still so smug later!" An Chong's anger flared again at Yu Ye's calm, almost pitying gaze.
"Ah… doesn't even realize he's already lost." Yu Ye sighed softly. "Well, since I'll be taking your Naturia field soon, I'll give you a little hope."
He raised his left hand, spreading five fingers.
"If I activate five Spells and still can't break your Naturia Beast, I'll surrender and join your side."
"Join my side? Hahahaha! I've been dueling for nearly fifty years, and no one's ever said that to me before!"
"Fine then! Even if you surrender, I won't accept it. I'll torture you! I'll burn down your LP point by point!"
An Chong laughed manically, thinking Yu Ye's arrogance was delusional.
He didn't realize Yu Ye truly didn't see him as a person—just a walking bag of gold coins.
The black-robed observer lowered his hood slightly, green eyes gleaming.
According to reports, Yu Ye was a calm, calculating duelist—never one to bluff. So what was this?
Was he taunting An Chong on purpose to make him drop his guard?
No… his tone wasn't taunting. So what was he planning?
Surely, he couldn't mean that his Little Knight could actually remove Naturia Beast… could it?
If that were possible, Yu Ye would've done it already. There'd be no need to wait until now.
"My turn! Draw!" An Chong looked at his hand, licked his lips, and smirked coldly.
"I'll go straight to the Battle Phase! You moving? Go ahead—my Naturia Beast is itching to attack!"
"No moves. Go ahead." Yu Ye smiled, unbothered by his mockery.
"Then die! Naturia Beast, attack his monster!"
An Chong sneered, voice dripping with cruelty.
"I've been waiting for this!" Yu Ye's grin turned strange. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell from my hand—Runick Slumber—"
"Pointless!" An Chong interrupted gleefully. "I chain with Naturia Beast's effect! I send the top two cards of my deck to the GY to negate your Spell and destroy it!"
He laughed wildly, expecting to see Yu Ye crumble in despair.
"Since you activated a card effect," Yu Ye said softly, "I'll chain again—"
"Useless! I'll chain again and negate it too—!"
But this time, his words froze in his throat.
His Naturia Beast didn't respond.
He blinked in disbelief. "Wait… that wasn't a Runick Spell you activated? That came from—your monster?!"
"That's right," Yu Ye said, smiling calmly. "I activated Little Knight's effect.
Naturia Beast can only negate Spells—not monster effects. You can't chain to her!"
"Little Knight's effect: I target one monster on each field and banish it until the End Phase. I target her and your Naturia Beast!"
Hearing this, An Chong felt his tense chest loosen.
Until the End Phase? Fine. Naturia Beast would come back soon enough.
There was still the rest of this turn—Main Phase 2, End Phase—what could Yu Ye possibly do in that time? Summon another Runick monster with a Quick-Play? That's all.
And conveniently, he'd just drawn a Trap that negates monster effects—he'd thought it was useless, but now it was perfect.
As long as Yu Ye didn't draw a Spell that destroyed backrow, the advantage still belonged to him. That was the confidence Naturia Beast gave him.
The black-robed man watched silently, green eyes flickering faintly.
When Yu Ye had activated Little Knight, cold sweat had nearly run down his back—if Naturia Beast were destroyed or permanently banished, An Chong would lose instantly.
Fortunately, everything was still within control. Yu Ye was strong—but not beyond expectation.
Chain Resolution:
C3: Little Knight's effect resolves successfully. Both Little Knight and Naturia Beast are temporarily banished.
C2: Naturia Beast's negation resolves (no target).
C1: Runick Slumber fizzles, with no valid target.
"My Battle Phase ends. Main Phase 2—I set one card, then move to End Phase."
An Chong had no more monsters to summon anyway. With a simple setup, he ended his turn.
Before ending, he glanced at Yu Ye. With Naturia Beast off the field, Yu Ye would surely summon a Runick monster through his Spells to stall—just to survive until next turn.
And indeed, Yu Ye raised his hand.
"Wait—during your Main Phase 2, I activate Runick Freezing Curses! I Special Summon one Runick monster from the Extra Deck. Come forth—Muning!"
"Muning's on-summon effect activates! I discard Runick Golden Droplet to search my Continuous Spell Runick Dispelling!
Chain 2: Runick Fountain's effect! I target Golden Droplet, Freezing Curses, and Runick Slumber in my GY to recycle!"
"Chain resolves: Fountain returns three to the deck and draws three.
And I add Runick Dispelling to my hand!"
Watching Yu Ye plus three cards again, An Chong's expression hardened. Even the black-robed observer's eye twitched.
They had read about this effect in the intelligence briefings—but seeing it in person still felt unfair.
If you couldn't stop Fountain's recursion, what was even the point of dueling? You might as well just surrender.
Runick… truly was the ultimate degenerate archetype.
Still, there was one silver lining—Yu Ye's summoning Muning meant he didn't have Effect Veiler in hand, and couldn't make Baronne de Fleur next turn. That alone gave them some breathing room.
After finishing his plays, Yu Ye looked down at his hand. His eyes lingered briefly on Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, then lifted toward An Chong.
A faint, dangerous smile tugged at his lips.
Struggle while you can, he said quietly.
Because on my next turn, you'll lose your last hope.
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon was about to descend.