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

　The deafening applause overwhelmed his thoughts. He forced himself to concentrate on watching the game, feeling as if the pent-up emotions inside him were about to explode.

　……

　And so the duel between Dark Dimon and Stuart Fowne began under the watchful eyes of all!

　Standing on the red player's platform, Dark glanced around briefly before taking out his deck from his card pack.

　He did adjust the deck, but not specifically for Stuart Furn. It was just a routine adjustment to incorporate the new Spellcards.

　This deck currently contains almost no useless cards. Unless your starting hand is full of "Sin" cards, it can hold its own against any situation.

　Activate the table and place the deck into the slots.

　Dak then slightly raised his head and looked across at the other side.

　Stuart Fowne came prepared, and his preparations were even faster than his.

　Their gazes met for a fleeting moment, then separated just as quickly.

　All the necessary exchanges have been completed offstage; all that remains is the duel!

　The referee's whistle blew quickly after both players finished shuffling their decks, and the words "Ready Phase" were projected into the air.

　The applause, both inside and outside the arena, gradually subsided.

　Even though multiple duels were taking place simultaneously in the open-air dueling arena, almost everyone's attention was focused on this particular duel.

　Applause and shouts will only distract you from watching; if you're not focused, you'll miss the best moments.

　—I've heard that professional tournament duels are gradually incorporating post-match replays and analyses, and St. Mary's Academy is undoubtedly lagging behind in this regard.

　……

　"Beep——"

　The whistle sounded again.

　"Preparation Phase" [30 seconds]

　The battle begins!

　Dark Dimon instantly focused his attention and reached for the cards.

　Stuart Fowle's face was grave as he quickly drew his first five cards.

　This time, he did a very good job managing his facial expressions and did not let his emotions show.

　Darko Dimon's expression remained as calm and composed as ever.

　He placed the five magic cards in his left hand, spreading them out like a peacock's tail, and then with a slight sweep, he absorbed all five magic cards into his mind.

　【Paradise III? Moon】

　【Demon Fox Beast】

　【Trash Slime】

　【Fantasy Beasts: Ditto】

　【Teapot】

　"Four Magical Spirit Cards..."

　"Fortunately, I drew three copies of 'Elysium III? Moon,' preventing me from starting with five Magical Spirit cards."

　A surge of magic, a rush of thought.

　During the thirty seconds of the "preparation phase," Dak quickly thought things through.

　Of the five Magical Spirit cards in this starting hand, "Elysium III: Moon" is undoubtedly the core.

　The Spell Monster cards that can be paired with it are "Renamon" and "Digimon".

　However, the current Samsung "Ditto" is a mindless clone, which is not advantageous in duels.

　Furthermore, without knowing the opponent's magical spirit, starting with "Ditto" is too risky—it's better suited as a trump card played later.

　"Let's go with 'Renamon'!"

　……

　[Battle Phase (1)][30s]

　"Tick!"

　The sound of the turn switching rang out instantly.

　Dark draws the "Renamon" Spell Card from his hand and reveals it for summoning.

　"In the name of Dark Demon, I summon—'Renamon'!"

　Under the watchful eyes of everyone, "Youkomon" knelt on one knee and materialized from the pure white summoning circle.

　"attack!"

　Dark pointed sharply forward, sounding the charge at the very beginning of the game.

　This is a rather rare choice for someone who excels at defensive counter-attacking strategies.

　But the "Fox Beast" faithfully carried out his command, pushing off with its feet and taking off in an instant!

　"call!"

　The wind howled.

　The slender and agile figure of the "Fox Beast" shot out like lightning.

　Although it hasn't used its ultimate move yet, its speed when it unleashes its full power is astonishing.

　……

　Faced with the rapidly charging "Fox Beast", Stuart Forn immediately gave orders to his magical spirit.

　His summoning speed was no slower than Dark's; a magical sprite, as elusive as a shadow, had already materialized in the blue team's summoning zone.

　""Thunder Shadow Bug", self-destruct! "

　Under Stuart Fern's somewhat cold command, the shadowy magical sprite suddenly let out a piercing insect-like chirp, black lightning erupted from its body, coiling around it before exploding abruptly!

　[Card Name: Thunder Shadow Insect]

　[Type: Spirit Card]

　【grade:】

　[Species: Insect]

　[Attribute: Dark/Electric]

　【Magic Power: 1600】

　[Attack: 1300]

　[Defense: 100]

　[Ultimate Skill: Lightning Flash, Shadow Lightning Explosion]

　Born in the Shadowlands, the "Thunder Shadow Bugs" possess both dark and electric attributes, with magic power exceeding that of top-tier three-star creatures. Their lightning-fast speed, combined with their ultimate move "Thunder Flash," allows them to traverse hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye to attack Dark's magic orb.

　But Stuart Fowne chose to order him to self-destruct on the spot!

　The so-called "self-destruction" is actually "Shadow Thunder Explosion"!

　Stuart Fown knew very well that Renamon was also extremely fast and possessed a near-instantaneous acceleration-type finishing move.

　However, his "Thunder Shadow Bug" has a fatal flaw—its defense is only 100 points!

　100 points of defense, 1600 points of magic power.

　Given its disadvantage in speed, it was inevitable that "Thunder Shadow Bug" would be instantly killed by "Fox Beast".

　Therefore, before the "Thunder Bug" was instantly killed, he chose to make the most of its remaining power.

　"Boom!"

　The blue team's magic ball soared into the sky under Stuart Fern's control.

　The self-destruction of the "Thunder Shadow Bug" did not affect the area above. The way it self-destructed was particularly unique. The electric light that burst out from its body, along with the explosion of shadow energy, radiated wildly in all directions.

　In the blink of an eye, the "Thunder Shadow Bug's" body had completely disappeared.

　The entire arena, including the red side's half, was covered by this sudden shadow energy, turning it pitch black.

　On this curtain of shadow, black electricity seemed to be consciously gathering rapidly toward the place where the "Fox Beast" had landed.

　Caught off guard, the "Fox Beast" was enveloped in electric light, which climbed up its feet and spread throughout its body.

　Its brows furrowed suddenly, and it felt a slight pain on its body, like being bitten by insects. Its body became paralyzed and stopped in place.

　"what is this?"

　The decrease in the magic power of "Renamon" was extremely limited, but the paralyzing effect of the electric current was very significant.

　Moreover, as time went by, the pain gradually intensified, indicating that the black current was breaking through the defenses, seeping into the body, and attempting to destroy it from the inside!

　Almost at the same time.

　Dark's red magic ball was also attacked by the black current, and the magic value of the life barrier was dropping rapidly.

　Although Dark reacted extremely quickly and sent it flying high into the air, its 8000 health points had already dropped by nearly 500.

　A disastrous start!

　In a flash of thought, Dark raised the "Elysium III? Moon" he had prepared all along.

　The field effects created by these "Thunderfly Bugs" at the cost of self-destruction are extremely troublesome.

　However, since it covers the ground, it cannot pose a threat to objects high in the air.

　Since we can't eliminate it for the time being, let's take the battlefield to the sky!

　"In the name of Dark Dimon, Renamon evolves into Nine-Tailed Foxmon!"

　The "Paradise" power poured into the body temporarily removed the paralysis from the "Fox Beast".

　It unleashed its full power in that instant, shooting into the sky like an arrow.

　The light blooms!

　……

　[My head hurts a bit, it feels like it's going to explode. I can't take it anymore. I'll sleep for a bit and then get up at 8 to write. I need to unleash my full potential today, or I'll be done for. (Д?)]

Chapter 689

　"Evolve, Renamon!"

　Enveloped in a golden-pink glow, "Youkomon" began its evolution the instant it leaped into the air. Its slender body rapidly expanded, transforming from humanoid to beast-like in the blink of an eye.

　The nine bushy tails suddenly stood upright, and blue flames instantly rose from the limbs of the "Nine-Tailed Fox Beast," granting it the ability to run through the air.

　"Roar!"

　The black electricity on its body was completely dispelled, and the "Nine-Tailed Fox Beast" ran through the void on blue flames, with jade-like ghost fire condensing at the tip of its tail.

　The battlefield instantly shifted to the air.

　But Stuart Fern had a deep understanding of Dark and had already anticipated this when he saw him summon the "Foxmon".

　He did not hesitate; the second magic card was already prepared.

　"In the name of Stuart Fern, a magical summoning—'Screaming Shadow Raven'!"

　A circular summoning circle unfolded above the barrier in front of the blue team's platform. A jet-black shadow raven flew out with a shriek and then suddenly grabbed the blue team's magic ball, which had flown to the same height.

　"Shadow Clone!"

　With Stuart Fern's calm and collected command, "Screaming Shadow Raven" and the blue magic ball it was holding tightly suddenly split in two, creating identical shadow clones.

　The next instant, the two "Screaming Shadow Crows" flashed and disappeared again, and when they reappeared, there were four of them.

　One part into two, two parts into four, four parts into eight, eight parts into sixteen...

　The "Screaming Shadow Raven" had not stopped its splitting behavior and had split into 128 clones at an abnormally terrifying speed!

　All 128 "Screaming Shadow Ravens" were holding onto the blue team's magic orb.