Hugin was just a blank monster — even summoning it didn't help. Losing a non-targeting monster effect negates because of that mistake? Brutal.
"It's fine. Whether you misplayed or not doesn't matter anymore. The outcome's already set."
You Ye's calm voice cut through the silence.
Ye Lingling winced, his words stabbing deeper than any monster attack. Still, she didn't refute him — he was right.
Her only card in hand was White Knight of Dogmatika, the one she searched last turn, and she had no way to summon it. Without a Dogmatika monster to bring out, Fleurdelis in her Graveyard couldn't even use its bonus negation effect.
"You've got White Knight in hand, and nothing in your Graveyard that does anything," You Ye said, smiling faintly. "That means I can move freely — no interruptions."
Ye Lingling nodded, still not panicking. Based on what she'd seen when she checked his Extra Deck earlier and what he'd already used, she could guess what was left — Nyaya, Mu Ning, Predaplant Verte Anaconda, and Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
Even if he had Red-Eyes Fusion in hand, he couldn't activate it this turn — he'd already Special Summoned!
Or so she thought.
The next moment, You Ye Normal Summoned Effect Veiler, then immediately linked it with Hugin to make Predaplant Verte Anaconda. Verte's effect activated — sending Red-Eyes Fusion from the Deck to the Graveyard — and seconds later, the mighty Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon descended onto the field.
Dragoon's crimson aura filled the room, and its effect immediately destroyed Dogmatika Fleurdelis, dealing 2500 LP damage to Ye Lingling.
He ended his turn right after.
Ye Lingling had considered activating the Titaniclad, the Ash Dragon she'd sent to the Graveyard earlier via Nadir Servant, but what good would that do? Dragoon had a once-per-turn triple negate — and You Ye still had two cards in hand. Using it now would only get her negated again, and she'd probably just feed his Runick draws next turn. Better to hold it and hope for some miracle.
Unfortunately, the next turns were merciless.
On his following draw, You Ye pulled There Can Be Only One. He set it, ended the Battle Phase, and self-restricted for the turn.
When Ye Lingling drew on her next turn, You Ye flipped There Can Be Only One.
Since nearly all her Dogmatika monsters were Spellcasters, and Dragoon was still standing strong, she was completely locked down.
If it were just Dragoon alone, she might still have had a sliver of hope — but with There Can Be Only One? It was over.
Utter despair.
So, in a final gesture, she summoned Ecclesia, the Virtuous, using her effect to search and destroy, letting You Ye negate and power up Dragoon even more — speeding up her own defeat.
Two turns later, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon delivered the final direct attack.
The duel was over.
"Senior, what do you think of my mastery of the Dogmatika archetype?" Ye Lingling asked quietly once the holograms faded.
You Ye thought for a moment before replying. "Your fundamentals are fine. You understand Extra Deck disruption. But you lack attention to detail — especially in preparation. You didn't guard against anything. If I'd had Nibiru, the Primal Being, you would've lost the instant it hit the field."
He paused, recalling the tournaments of his previous life — all the strategies built around countering Ash Blossom, Nibiru, Maxx "C", and so on.
"A real Duelist — especially when going first — always builds defenses. Remember: having a huge board doesn't mean victory."
"I've learned my lesson, Senior!" Bai Yun'er chimed in before Ye Lingling could respond. "Now I get why it's so hard to reach Grandmaster rank in Master Duel! It's because I never played around with anything!"
Ye Lingling's expression darkened. Easy for you to say. Do you know how rare hand traps are at this rank?
Of course, she kept that thought to herself. You Ye was right, after all — even the Bai family's Ground-Rank duelists had said the same thing. The problem was that actually preparing for everything was nearly impossible.
Take Nibiru, for example — you needed a monster effect negate within your fifth summon.
Or Raigeki — you'd need a Spell negate in your final board.
And there were countless other examples just like those.
Most archetypes simply couldn't manage it.
Dogmatika was one of them. Even if she'd expected Nibiru, she couldn't have stopped it. The best she could do was leave some resources to recover next turn — surviving the board wipe and reestablishing herself later. That was just a limitation of the archetype.
"You mentioned that Shadow asked for me," You Ye said, turning away from the two girls. "Has he set a time?"
Bai Yun'er blinked, then shook her head. "Not yet. But Shadow said to contact him once you're ready."
"Alright," You Ye nodded.
"Senior," Ye Lingling suddenly said, "is there… any way I can still grow stronger?"
She hadn't missed his earlier words — that Dogmatika, at its peak, barely reached Heaven-Rank. Meaning even reaching that level was extremely difficult. And she wanted to go beyond — to Legend-Rank, if that truly existed.
But You Ye's duel had made one thing painfully clear: one card could erase her entire setup. Against such reality, what could she do but accept it?
"I've already told you the answer," You Ye said with a small smile.
"Branded, huh…" Ye Lingling muttered, falling silent.
She wasn't stupid — she knew exactly what he meant. He'd mentioned it before their duel. But the problem was that the Dogmatika spirits — especially their leader — weren't exactly friendly. If she angered them, she might lose even the connection she already had.
"You can bring me the Branded cards you gather," You Ye continued. "I'll help you rebuild your deck. But there's one condition—"
Ye Lingling instantly understood and nodded. "Once I get the Branded cards, I'll come find you, Senior!"
"You Ye, hahahaha! So this is the famous senior you mentioned, Bai Yun'er?"
A deep, booming voice filled the room as a figure emerged from the corner — Shadow (Cheng Ying) had arrived.
You Ye looked him over — unlike Mu Ning, Shadow's body wasn't fully material. He appeared more like a projection of light and smoke, his presence faint and flickering. Clearly, he was under some kind of restriction.
"You sound like you know something about Branded," You Ye said, raising a brow.
"Of course," Shadow laughed. "Branded ties into multiple worlds — and many of the top-tier spirits in our realm are involved." He paused, glancing briefly at Ye Lingling before continuing. "Take Dogmatika, for example. Those zealots don't cooperate easily. The same goes for the madmen of Despia and the dragons of the Abyss. None of them trusts anyone."
"Unless someone — human or spirit — proves themselves strong enough to conquer them, it's nearly impossible to obtain most of the Branded cards. A few scattered singles, maybe — but the core set? Forget it."