Did you go a bit too far?
"Playing through Maxx 'C' and ending on this board… it feels kind of average."
Looking at You Ye's endboard—only Rulkallos and Psychic End Punisher as real threats, plus Reinoheart and Havnis as low-level monsters—Cao Gu frowned slightly, muttering uncertainly.
"You don't trust yourself, that's fine—but don't doubt Senior either," Cheng Ting replied calmly.
"If he chose to end on this board, there's definitely a reason."
As he spoke, a trace of anticipation flashed through his eyes.
Yang Xuequn, beside him, shared the same expectation.
After learning more about Tearlaments, they had realized something absurd.
Tearlaments' effects trigger automatically when conditions are met—they don't require manual activation.
That meant Tearlaments could fully combo during the opponent's turn.
They hadn't asked You Ye, directly, nor had they seen him do it before.
But the top brass in both the Inspectorate and the Duel Association unanimously agreed—
It was absolutely feasible.
You Ye's previous opponents had been too weak to force Tearlaments to move on the opponent's turn.
But this time was different.
The opponent was an Elf, and not just any Elf—
Norden, an Old God of the Order Guardians.
And he was using Sinful Spoils Snake-Eyes, a deck with terrifying power.
This duel might finally reveal Tearlaments' true strength during the opponent's turn.
Thinking of this, both of them couldn't help but feel excited.
"My turn. Draw."
Norden drew a card, glanced at it, and entered Main Phase 1.
"I activate the Normal Spell Sinful Spoils of Rebellion – Snake-Eye.
Once per turn, I target one face-up monster on the field—
That monster is treated as a Continuous Spell and placed face-up in its owner's Spell & Trap Zone."
"I target your Rulkallos the Sea Nymph, and move it to your Spell & Trap Zone."
You Ye had no response and chose to let it resolve.
The moment he passed priority, Rulkallos—under the gaze of a massive crimson Snake-Eye—was dragged into the back row, standing there as a Continuous Spell.
"I activate the Field Spell Snake-Eye Temple, placing Snake-Eye Flamberge Dragon from my Deck into my Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell."
"Next—
I activate Diabellstar the Black Witch from my hand, sending Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to the GY as cost.
Without starting a chain, I Special Summon her."
"Then Diabellstar's effect activates—
I set one 'Sinful Spoils' Spell/Trap directly from my Deck."
"Wait," You Ye suddenly smiled.
"I forgot to tell you—Tearlaments love interacting with the opponent. We never let them get bored."
"I Chain 2—Tearlaments Scream, as a Continuous Spell.
Lower your monster's ATK by 500, and mill three cards."
Seeing this, You Ye immediately grinned.
"Love interacting?" Norden frowned slightly.
"You mean this archetype-wide Continuous Spell that triggers not only when you Special Summon, but also when I do—as long as you have Tearlaments monsters?"
He hesitated briefly, then chose to respond.
Between Scream milling three and the Sea Nymph milling three, Scream was clearly more dangerous.
"I Chain 3—Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring from my hand.
I negate the milling effect of your Scream."
You Ye wasn't surprised at all.
Since Norden had already discarded Ash Blossom to Summon Diabellstar, there was no way he still had one—
This had to be the last copy.
Chain resolution (last to first):
Chain 3: Ash Blossom resolves successfully
Chain 2: Scream's ATK reduction and mill are negated (same effect, so both fail)
Chain 1: Diabellstar Sets the Quick-Play Spell "Sinful Spoils of Subversion – Devil's Hunt"
"I activate the Normal Spell Bonfire, adding Snake-Eye Poplar from my Deck to my hand."
"I Normal Summon Poplar.
On Summon, I add one Level 1 FIRE monster from my Deck to my hand."
"Wait," You Ye interrupted immediately.
"I Chain 2—Havnis the Sea Nymph from my hand.
She Special Summons herself, then I mill three cards."
Norden wasn't surprised at all.
In fact, the corners of his mouth twisted into a strange smile.
"When you dueled the Undead, didn't you say Maxx 'C' doesn't scare you?"
"Then let me show you what true 'G doesn't pressure me' looks like!"
He took a card from his hand and sent it to the GY.
"I Chain 3—Maxx 'C'.
Each time you Special Summon, I draw one card."
"No problem," You Ye replied calmly.
"It's just Maxx 'C'. Go ahead."
"You think your Psychic End Punisher can protect you?" Norden sneered.
"It's only unaffected when conditions are met—it's not invincible."
"I'll deal with it soon."
"Then I'll look forward to it," You Ye smiled.
Chain resolution:
Chain 3: Maxx 'C' applies
Chain 2: Havnis Special Summons and mills three
Chain 1: Poplar adds Kurikarasu the Heavenly Child to hand
"Kurikarasu?" You Ye, chuckled.
"That won't be enough. Punisher's protection is continuous—it doesn't activate."
"I know," Norden replied calmly.
"It's just insurance."
"Now—Field Spell Snake-Eye Temple, third effect.
Once per turn, when a monster is Summoned or Special Summoned by my opponent,
I can target one monster treated as a Continuous Spell on either field and Special Summon it to my field."
"I target your Rulkallos, which is currently a Continuous Spell, and Special Summon her to my field!"
"…You stole my Rulkallos?" You Ye's smile faded.
He was a diehard believer in pure love.
Nothing disgusted him more than NTR—
Especially NTR in duels.
And now Norden had done exactly that.
"Oh, absolutely," Norden replied matter-of-factly.
"That's a negate, a body, and a board value. Why wouldn't I take it?"
"Then I'll Chain," You Ye said coldly.
"Havnis mills three—I hit Reinoheart and a second Scream.
They self-chain:
Chain 2, Reinoheart mills two.
Chain 3, Scream recovers Havnis."
Chain resolution:
Chain 3: Havnis returns to hand
Chain 2: Reinoheart mills two
Chain 1: Rulkallos is Special Summoned to Norden's field
You Ye's mills were useless this time.
Norden continued immediately.
"I activate Original Sinful Spoils – Snake-Eye, targeting the Continuous Spell Flamberge Dragon."
"I Special Summon Snake-Eye Ash from my Deck."
"I use Ash as Link Material—
Link Summon, Link-1: Linkuriboh."
"Ash's GY effect—
I place Flamberge Dragon from my GY into my Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell."
"Then Poplar's effect—
I send Poplar and one face-up card I control to the GY to Special Summon Flamberge Dragon from my Deck."
"Flamberge Dragon's effect—
When sent to the GY, I Special Summon two Level 1 FIRE monsters from my GY."
"I Chain 2—Sword Deacon from my GY.
I banish it, targeting your Ash, your Poplar, and my Sinful Spoils Resonance, returning them to the Deck."
You Ye chained immediately—no way he'd let two bodies resolve.
"Just as expected," Norden sighed.
That was exactly why he waited this long.
Without Called by the Grave, this play was doomed anyway.
Chain resolution:
Chain 2: Sword Deacon returns all targets to the Deck
Chain 1: Flamberge loses targets and fails
"I activate Flamberge Dragon's ignition effect.
Once per turn, I target one monster on either field or in either GY,
and place it face-up as a Continuous Spell in its owner's Spell & Trap Zone."
He pointed straight at You Ye's GY.
"I target Fairy Tail – Snow."
"You won't get that through," You Ye said calmly.
"I Chain 2—Snow's effect.
I banish seven cards from my hand, field, and GY to Special Summon her."
"Chain 3—Rulkallos' effect.
I negate that Special Summon and destroy her!"
"Useless," You Ye replied instantly.
"Snow isn't once per turn."
"Chain 4—I banish seven more cards.
I Special Summon Snow again."
Chain resolution:
Chain 4: Snow Special Summons
Chain 3: Rulkallos negates the first attempt
Chain 2: Snow's earlier activation fails
Chain 1: Flamberge loses its target
At this point, Norden smiled even wider.
"Your GY is basically empty now.
Since you won't let me take Snow, I won't bother anymore."
He was right.
You Ye's GY now only contains:
Sword Deacon, Glow-Up Bulb, King of the Swamp, and Scream.
But You Ye was smiling too.
"Fairy Tail – Snow's effect," You Ye declared.
"When she's Special Summoned, I target one face-up monster you control and flip it face-down."
"I target Flamberge Dragon."
Flamberge was flipped face down.
Norden laughed.
"I calculated this long ago. That's why Poplar searched Kurikarasu."
He revealed the card.
"Kurikarasu the Heavenly Child cannot be Normal Summoned.
If monsters activated effects this turn, I can Tribute them all to Special Summon her.
Her ATK increases by 1500 for each Tribute."
"Your Snow activated her effect—she'll be my tribute!"
Snow vanished in flames.
A shrine maiden stepped forth, barefoot on blazing fire, eyes full of curiosity as she looked at You Ye.
Kurikarasu the Heavenly Child
Angel / Effect / FIRE / Level 1
ATK 4100 (Field boost 1100) / DEF 1500
"And?" You Ye, smiled faintly.
"So what?"
None of his monsters were in attack position except Punisher.
"Beating you with that alone is impossible," Norden admitted.
"But I'm not done yet!"
"I Link Summon using Rulkallos, Diabellstar, and Linkuriboh—
Link-3: Princess of the Cursed Flame!"
White flames ignited.
A red-haired demon girl with black armor and burning forearms descended, eyes widening when she saw You Ye.
She shouldn't exist here—
Only You Ye possessed her Origin Card.
Yet an Elf had summoned her.
She smiled.
"Princess effect—Special Summon Flamberge Dragon from the GY."
"I Link Summon using Kurikarasu and Princess—
Link-4: Salamangreat Raging Phoenix!"
"I Link Phoenix into Worldsea Dragon Zealantis!"
"Zealantis banishes all monsters, then Special Summons them back as I choose!"
"I return your Havnis and Reinoheart face-down,
and my two Flamberge Dragons and Zealantis in attack position!"
"Because you Special Summoned monsters, Princess triggers in the GY—
I destroy one of my Flamberges and your Havnis to revive her!"
"Then Phoenix's GY effect—
When a FIRE monster is destroyed, I revive Phoenix and gain its ATK!"
Salamangreat Raging Phoenix ATK: 6000
"I enter the Battle Phase!"
You Ye calmly analyzed everything out loud.
"You were smart—but greedy.
You should've entered Battle Phase earlier."
Still—
"Psychic End Punisher effect.
ATK increases by the LP difference—4000."
Psychic End Punisher ATK: 7500
"I attack with Princess!"
"Punisher—counterattack!"
Psychic waves obliterated her.
Norden LP: 8000 → 3200
"I attack your Havnis with Flamberge—then Main Phase 2!"
Norden laughed wildly.
"I have Triple Tactics Talent in hand!
I'll take your Punisher!"
"You know why broken Tearlaments are strongest in the late game?"
You Ye suddenly asked softly.
"Why?" Norden frowned.
"You'll see."
"Use Talents," You Ye smiled.
"I activate Triple Tactics Talent—
I take control of one of your monsters."
"I Chain 2—Havnis' effect!
I banish Scream to Special Summon her!"
"You want to mill?" Norden was confused.
"What's the point?"
Chain resolution:
Havnis Special Summons
Punisher is taken
"I mill three—Merrli, Scream, and Resonance."
Everyone froze.
Every card had a grave effect.
Chains exploded.
Fusion after Fusion.
Kaleido-Heart returned.
Raging Phoenix was bounced.
The board collapsed.
Norden stared in disbelief.
You planned this for Main Phase 2?
You Ye, smiled.
Of course.