After a few seconds of thought, Harald King chose not to negate. He allowed You Ye to pass.
The chain resolved in reverse order:
C3: Effect Veiler successfully resolved, negating Harald King's effects until the end of the turn.
C2: Harald King's effect was negated.
C1: War of Kings – The Stage special summoned Void Realm King of War – Utgard King from the Deck.
"I overlay the Level 9 Utgard King and the Level 9 Light Realm King of War – Mardol Queen!"
"Xyz Summon! Rank 9 — Aggregated Individuality Theorist!"
"Aggregated Individuality Theorist's first effect — once per turn, when Xyz Summoned: send one monster from the Extra Deck to the Graveyard."
"I send El Shaddoll Apkallone to the Graveyard!"
"As Apkallone is sent to the Graveyard, its effect activates — once per turn: add one 'Shaddoll' card from Deck or Graveyard to hand, then discard one card."
"I add the Continuous Trap Shaddoll Schism, and discard War of Kings – Domination."
"Oh? Shaddoll too?"
You Ye, glanced at the Graveyard, then looked toward Li Yuan, clearly surprised.
"So next turn you're going for Winda, huh?"
Invoker support, World Legacy cards for acceleration, War of Kings as the main suppression engine, and a Shaddoll mini-engine to lock Special Summons.
In this primitive dueling world, that end board was nearly absolute suppression.
"Winda was added last," Li Yuan replied calmly, then glanced toward Melo.
He had long heard of the Tearlaments to Winda openers.
That gave him an idea:
If Tearlaments could consistently access Winda, why couldn't other archetypes do the same?
After long experimentation, he finally completed War of Kings + Winda as a functional hybrid.
From his experience, most King's Path Duelists lost instantly the first time they faced it.
"I see…"
You Ye immediately understood.
This was a counter-strategy Li Yuan developed after learning You Ye used Tearlaments.
At that moment, You Ye felt it deeply:
The bottom tier doesn't understand the play.
The mid-tier understands it but can't solve it.
The top tier learns it, adapts it, and fuses it.
Every layer sees a different battlefield.
He finally understood why so many people hoarded information.
If not for his previous life's knowledge, he might already have been studied, copied, and surpassed.
Still—
He mentally raised a middle finger to this world's clan monopolies.
If card pools weren't hoarded, dueling here would be far more exciting.
Instead of cavemen smashing ATK values.
"But You Ye," Li Yuan said calmly,
"You didn't see everything."
"This setup doesn't just block Special Summons."
"It also prepares a counter for one of your most broken cards."
"Oh?"
You Ye, smiled faintly.
"A counter for Gun King?"
Li Yuan didn't deny it.
"Finish the board," he urged Harald King.
"Hmph. Weren't you two still chatting?"
Harald King snorted and continued.
From the Extra Deck, he revealed a card.
"I use No.84 Pain Gainer's alternate summoning condition!"
"This card can be Xyz Summoned by ranking it up over a DARK Rank 8–10 Xyz Monster with at least two materials!"
"I rank it up over my Rank 9 Aggregated Individuality Theorist!"
"Rank-Up Xyz Summon!"
"Rank 11 — No.84 Pain Gainer, Defense Position!"
A massive spider web spread across the field.
A dark green, blue-horned spider marked with the number 84 descended.
No.84 Pain Gainer
Insect / Xyz / Effect / DARK / Rank 11
ATK 0 / DEF 0
"No.84 Pain Gainer's continuous effect:
Its DEF becomes the combined Ranks of all Xyz Monsters you control ×200."
"I control Rank 11 Pain Gainer and Rank 9 World King of War – Jörmungandr King!"
"Total Rank 20!"
"Pain Gainer's DEF becomes 4000!"
Pain Gainer DEF: 0 → 4000
"I see… burn damage?" You, Ye, murmured.
"Yes," Li Yuan nodded.
"If Gun King can't be removed, then I remove the Duelist."
"Good idea," You Ye admitted.
"But your countermeasures aren't sufficient."
"Not enough?" Li Yuan frowned.
"Gun King has four materials and immunity to destruction. It can't pass Pain Gainer."
"And I still have a pseudo three-color negate."
"Isn't that enough?"
Harald King frowned as well—but he was already out of resources.
He could only proceed.
"I set one card and end my turn."
"At the end phase, World Legacy Monstrosity self-destructs."
"Your turn."
You Ye's Turn
"My turn. Draw."
The moment You Ye saw the card, his eyes widened slightly.
Harald King's expression darkened instantly.
"Because you drew, War of Kings – The Stage activates!"
"I special summon a War of Kings monster from my Deck!"
You Ye, smirked and chained:
"Chain 2 — I activate Runick Destruction, targeting your field spell War of Kings – The Stage. Destroy it and banish the top four cards of your Deck."
"Don't assume everything will go your way," Harald King growled.
"Chain 3 — Jörmungandr King's effect. We both draw one, then choose one card from hand or field to attach as material."
"Sorry," You Ye replied calmly.
"You won't keep that card either."
"Chain 4 — I activate Runick Flashing Fire, targeting Jörmungandr King. Destroy it and mill two."
"You still had Flashing Fire?!" Harald King grimaced.
With Jörmungandr gone, all resistance collapsed.
"Even monsters with destruction resistance can't survive forever," You Ye said lightly.
"One Black Hole and your board's gone. This end board… still too weak."
Li Yuan didn't argue.
It was true—before Harald King came out, only Invoked Mechaba existed.
If Mechaba ate removal early, everything crumbled.
Chain resolution:
C4: Flashing Fire destroys Jörmungandr King, mill 2
C3: Draw effect resolves; material attachment fails
C2: Runick Destruction destroys the field spell, banish 4
C1: Field effect fizzles
You Ye LP: 8000 → 6800
Main Phase 1
"You know why I didn't Special Summon Huginn during Standby or Draw Phase?"
You Ye asked with a strange smile.
"You already have Fountain—or Runick Tip," Harald King replied instantly.
"And I drew a Spell this turn. Special Summoning would be pointless."
"And if you try," he added confidently,
"I'll flip my Continuous Trap and shut down your entire turn."
"You're right."
You Ye, smiled.
"But I Normal Summon Amano-Iwato."
"…Amano-Iwato?"
Harald King froze.
Amano-Iwato's continuous effect shut off all monster effects except Spirit monsters.
Mechaba. Gone.
Negates. Gone.
"Surprise?" You, Ye, grinned.
"I activate Shaddoll Schism!" Harald King snapped.
"I banish Apkallone and Hel, Queen of the Dead Realm, Fusion Summon — El Shaddoll Winda!"
"Winda's restrictions and indestructibility are continuous effects," Harald King said coldly.
"Amano-Iwato doesn't stop them."
"And Pain Gainer's burn doesn't activate either."
"If you don't draw Flashing Fire again, you lose."
"Then let's see if my bond is enough."
You Ye, glanced at his hand.
Gun King. Runick Slumber. Runick Tip.
"If I draw Number Awakening, I win."
The Turn of Fate
"I activate Runick Tip, add Runick Fountain."
(LP –600)
"I activate Runick Fountain."
"I activate Runick Slumber, targeting Amano-Iwato."
(Banish 3, LP –600)
"Fountain effect — return Slumber, Destruction, Tip. Draw three."
The draw resolved.
You Ye's eyes flashed with regret.
He missed it.
Harald King noticed instantly.
"You didn't draw it. Victory is mine."
"Maybe."
"But I can still draw again."
"I activate Graceful Charity. Draw three, discard two."
(LP –600)
Both Harald King and Li Yuan froze.
Graceful Charity.
The true broken card wasn't Gun King—it was this.
Unconditional draw, filtering, and setup.
"I guess victory favors me after all."
You Ye, smiled.
"I activate Number Awakening!"
"I Special Summon No.86 Heroic Champion – Rhongomyniad with four materials!"
Gun King descended.
This time, the pressure was overwhelming.
Even Pain Gainer cowered.
Only Winda remained calm—she knew Gun King wouldn't target her.
Li Yuan stared in shock.
For the first time, he felt a monster he could not answer.
"Monster," he muttered.
Not Rhongo—You Ye.
"I activate Forbidden Chalice Protocol, declare No.86 Rhongomyniad."
"I set one card. End turn."
(LP –600)
Harald King's Final Turn
"My turn. Draw."
He drew Messenger of Peace.
Hope sparked.
Then—
"You know something about fully immune monsters?"
You Ye said lightly.
"They have another use."
"…Another use?"
"I flip Skill Drain."
"Pay 1000 LP. All face-up monster effects are negated."
You Ye LP: 2800
"SKILL DRAIN?! Are you insane?!"
"Gun King isn't affected."
Silence.
Pain Gainer. Negated.
Winda. Negated.
Mechaba. Negated.
Only Gun King remained.
Harald King stared at his hand.
Messenger of Peace.
Useless.
"This deck burns LP to win," he whispered.
"And now… I can't burn anything."
He sighed.
"I surrender."
"You played well," You Ye nodded.
"You didn't play well," Harald King groaned.
"You played too well."
T2 Amano-Iwato.
T3 Skill Drain.
Are you even human?