The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　A pink glow emanated from the eyes beneath the brim of its hat.

　The three red "Fear Gems" on his chest suddenly released a magical light that shone like gemstones!

　The fear it accumulated each night, filled with joy, was stored within it as magic. Now, released in an instant, it caused the "soul of the beauty" touched by the magical light to melt away like snow!

　……

　"Fortunately, it evolved in time."

　"If this were a 'dream monster,' its very thoughts would probably be frozen."

　While feeling relieved, Dark watched as the "Skeleton Serpent" continued to crash into the magic orb, defying the magical light.

　Then he flicked his finger, and the magic ball shot upwards as if it were springy.

　Immediately afterwards, the "Dream Demon" which was gradually regaining its mobility widened its eyes and used "telekinesis" to firmly restrain the body of the "Skeleton Serpent"!

　……

　The situation on the field changed extremely quickly.

　While issuing commands to the "Skeleton Serpent," Sarah, the player on the blue team's platform, did not stop summoning.

　Her third summoning has already been completed.

　In the blue team's summoning area, a mummy girl wrapped in snow-white bandages materialized, kneeling on one knee with her staff planted on the ground.

　Dark had also seen this three-star magical sprite before.

　Card Name: Living Mummy

　[Type: Spirit Card]

　【grade:】

　[Race: Undead]

　[Attribute: Dark]

　【Magic Power: 1200】

　[Attack: 1000]

　[Defense: 1000]

　[Ultimate Skill: Dark Resurrection]

　It wore a crown on its head, held a staff in its hand, and had loose bandages that revealed its skin—the exposed skin was full of life, and half of its face was delicate and smooth.

　……

　"The 'Living Mummy' possesses the ultimate technique 'Dark Resurrection'!"

　Dark felt a sense of unease, experiencing a pressure he hadn't felt in a long time during this duel.

　Instead, he smiled and issued the command before the turn switched: "Dream Demon, Nightmare Space!"

　"Yao Mi!"

　The "Dream Demon" responded seriously, unleashing a thick purple mist from beneath it that spread outwards like smoke and clouds.

　The lower half of the "Skeleton Beauty Serpent" was then submerged in the thick fog.

　……

　[Battle Phase (2)][30s]

　……

　Both players draw cards simultaneously, with no time to lose.

　The Primordial Dragon Egg

　【Paradise III】

　Dark added the two magic cards to his hand, but he wasn't particularly excited.

　The "dream monsters" on the ground did not completely expand the "nightmare space".

　Although the purple smoke is just a "special effect" of the "Nightmare Space", it also marks the scope of the "Nightmare Space".

　It only covered a small portion of the area.

　Since the spatial distortion effect of the "Nightmare Space" is constant, and the "Dream Demon" can only be released and not withdrawn, spreading it all out at once would only cause trouble for Dark.

　In particular, Sarah's "Mummy" series consists of mummies with extremely slow basic movement speed, which actually benefit them in the "Nightmare Space".

　After unfolding the "Nightmare Space," the "Dream Demon" flashed and gathered its claws, fiercely grabbing at the frantically struggling "Skeleton Beauty Serpent"!

　Having been infused with "Senra Ghostly Energy," the "Skeleton Serpent" has broken through the first tier of power. However, being reduced to its physical form, it is no match for the "Dream Demon."

　Dark glanced at it only once before beginning to cast a normal summoning spell.

　"In the name of Dark Demon, a magical summoning—'The Primordial Dragon Egg'!"

　……

　When the enormous dragon egg materialized amidst the purple smoke, the audience who remembered it cheered.

　Vittoria and Doron on the ring also clenched their fists.

　But Sarah Swati, the blue team's player on the platform, showed no signs of nervousness. With a flick of her finger, a magic card floated in the air.

　A beam of dark light shot out from the card's face, striking the dragon egg before the "Blue-Eyes Baby Dragon" even hatched!

　The black light coiled into a spiral, but instead of breaking through the dragon egg's defenses, it penetrated directly into it, frantically absorbing its energy.

　Dak's pupils contracted as he once again felt the poverty of his knowledge.

　For a moment, he couldn't recall what Sara's magic card, which was clearly a "spell," was.

　"It's a 'Mana Drain Charm'!"

　But Sarah suddenly smiled and blurted it out.

　The "Mana Draining Charm," also known as the "Mana Extraction Charm," is a spell that human magicians painstakingly developed to address the problem of insufficient total magic power.

　However, the actual application of this curse has not been good.

　Although it can draw magic from other mages, a problem arises in the process of infusing it—the efficiency is only one-tenth.

　One-tenth utilization rate.

　This made "drawing magic spells" an utterly useless skill.

　Demons are born with immense magical power, and the "magic-draining spell" simply cannot drain their magic power, and they won't stand still to let you drain them.

　Over time, the "curse of drawing magic" was rarely mentioned anymore.

　However, Sara adapted it to magical duels, and it unexpectedly proved effective.

　"Drawing Spell" is simply the nemesis of magical spirits!

　Although magical spirits gain some immunity to these spells starting from the second tier, magical spirits in the first tier are almost powerless against them.

　The students in the ring looked thoughtful as they saw the magic card appear.

　Dark frowned.

　The "Mana Drain Spell" has limited effect on the five-star "Dream Demon," but it effectively prevents the "Primordial Dragon Egg" from hatching.

　But Sarah clearly didn't watch his duel with Doron. Was this strategy simply based on the end-of-year duel assessment?

　Or perhaps it was a quick wit or a clever solution?

　……

　Now is not the time to dwell on these reasons.

　Darke abruptly interrupted his train of thought, not wanting to waste any more time on this point.

　Then he continued the summoning on the spot.

　"In the name of Dark Deemon, I summon—'Cursed Cage: Impmon'!"

　Since Dark had already moved the Magic Ball to the height of the arena, Devimon was summoned directly in front of the Magic Ball.

　"Ah?"

　The summoned Impmon wasn't excited; it probably didn't expect to have the chance to appear. After materializing, it simply flapped its wings and kept flying.

　And on the opposite side.

　While ensuring the "Mana Drain Charm" functions properly, Sarah is also working on summoning the next magical spirit.

　Her situation on the court wasn't actually that good.

　The enhanced "Skeleton Serpent" is no match for "Dream Demon" and will be torn apart after a short time.

　Even if it is temporarily revived by the "Dark Resurrection" of the "Mummy of Life"—no, "Dark Resurrection" is a finishing move that can only revive dark-attribute magical spirits that are no higher than its own level for three minutes (within three minutes of the time of death).

　The "Skeleton Serpent" is a "Ghost" type, not a "Dark" type!

　In this respect, Dak made a misunderstanding.

　This means that once the "Skeleton Serpent" is destroyed, Sara will have no fighting power on the field.

　Therefore, she must take steps to make amends.

　In her first year, the lack of high-star magical spirits was her weakness.

　But that's all in the past.

　"In the name of Sara Swati, a magical summoning—'The Necromancer's Jar'!"

　A magical spirit resembling a black ceramic jar appeared beside the blue team's magical orb.

　Looking down from above, you can see three black spheres floating inside the terracotta pot—these are, conceptually, necromancy orbs formed from the souls of the dead!

　The three Necromancer Orbs are the three sacrifices for a one-star hero.

　Combined with the three-star "Mummy of Life", it can be used to sacrifice and summon up to six-star magical spirits.

　But Sarah did not do that.

　"Living mummies" are very important in her tactical system and cannot be used as mere sacrifices.

　Therefore, after summoning the "Necromancer's Jar", she began to summon the second spell card - "Living Absolute"!

　A spell that those without talent cannot even touch.

　……

　But before Sarah could successfully summon "Soul Extinction," Dark preemptively summoned "Netherworld Soul Ring."

　"In the name of Dark Demon, a magical summoning—'Netherworld Soul Ring'!"

　Dark pointed a finger, and a thick collar, as wide as two fingers, appeared in front of Impmon.

　Of course, this isn't for Impmon to wear...

　Dark turned to look at the "Mummy of Life" who was still guarding the blue team's magic orb, and whispered, "Go!"

　The collar around the soul vanished instantly.

　When it reappeared, it was already placed on the mummy girl's delicate neck!

　Originating from the underworld, this collar is a soul-binding ring that can drag first-tier magical spirits to one's side and offer them as sacrifices.

　The "living mummy" felt the restraints on its neck and instinctively reached out to grab them, pulling them outwards.

　However, this "Netherworld Soul Ring," forged from ash fire, possesses extremely strong coercive power when targeting first-tier magical spirits.

　The "living mummy" let out a silent scream as it was restrained by the "Netherworld Soul Ring" and dragged rapidly toward the red team's half of the map!

　Sarah's "Soul Extinction" was only successfully summoned at this moment—just a beat too late!

　A wall of darkness stretched across the front of the blue team's summoning area!

　……

　[7000+ words, 4000 words guaranteed, 1.5 bonus chapters for every 3000 words.]

　【4/】

　[I've calculated that the bounty has been up to about seventy chapters so far, and I'll try to finish it within two months.]

　[I'll try to catch up on the 4,000 words I missed these past two days after I wake up (just trying), I'm so sad!]