Li Yuu glanced at the card Mars was gripping, read its effect, then smirked and said:
"So that's what it was. Too bad—for as long as 'Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon' is on my field, the opponent cannot Special Summon more than one monster at a time!"
Mars was stunned. "It even has that kind of lock-down effect?!"
Hybrid Zebra X was supposed to Special Summon two monsters simultaneously from the Graveyard to Xyz Summon. But the first step was blocked outright by Spirit Dragon's effect—it couldn't even activate.
This hidden effect of Spirit Dragon was one of those abilities that might only come into play once every hundred duels.
But this time—it was the final blow, the key that decided victory!
Li Yuu gave Mars a look of genuine sympathy. He hadn't expected that ability to matter, either. Truly, Mars was just unlucky.
Now, Mars could summon no monsters to block Li Yuu's army of dragons.
Mars slumped in disbelief. "I can't believe… I actually lost to something like that…"
Li Yuu raised his eyebrows with a smile. "Then I'll continue the battle. Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon—attack him directly!"
"Tough! Invincible! The Strongest!!"
"Crushed! Shattered! Roaring applause!!"
What happened next was a foregone conclusion.
Even though Mars had raised his Life Points to 12,000, it wasn't enough to stop the onslaught.
Tyrant Dragon, Spirit Dragon, and Azure Dragon delivered a combined 12,900 damage!
Mars LP: 0!
The 8-star duelist, Mars, was utterly defeated!
"Uwaaahhh—!!!"
A furious storm of dragon's breath blasted Mars away, signaling the end of the duel.
In Li Yuu's mind, the system notification echoed:
[Duel complete. Congratulations, Host, on your victory!][Winning Streak: 5!][Mission Complete: The Sleeping Dragon Awakens!][Reward: Diamond Card Pack has been issued.]
At the same time, the Duel Link AI announced:
"Congratulations, Duelist Zarc, on your win! You've earned 3200 Duel Points. Your Rank has advanced to 3-Star!"
The spectators were stunned. For a brief moment, the livestream room fell into silence.
Mars staggered back to his feet and looked at Li Yuu.
"I lost… Zarc, your strength is beyond what I imagined."
He looked up with a complicated expression at the duel's true MVP—Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon—and muttered bitterly:
"If not for that card's effect, I might've survived another turn."
If Hybrid Zebra X had activated, Mars could've summoned his Rank-4 Xyz monster: Salamangreat Flame Dragon.
Its first effect lets it detach one material to prevent destruction once.
That would've blocked two dragon attacks.
And after using its materials, Flame Dragon could activate its second effect to accelerate into a new Xyz Summon—of course, a second Flame Dragon.
Once reborn, its third effect would trigger: bounce one card from the field back to the hand.
And with even one material, it could again block two more attacks (one via effect, one via destruction).
This combo had saved Mars in many duels before, giving him a path to comeback victories.
But not this time.
Spirit Dragon completely locked him down.Not even a chance to activate the effect.
Li Yuu could guess what Mars was thinking. He gave a faint smile and said:
"Mars, you think even if you summoned 'Flame Dragon', you could've blocked all my attacks and maybe countered?"
"Too bad. Even if you had summoned it, your defeat was inevitable!"
Mars was shocked. "What?!"
Li Yuu revealed Twin Burst Dragon and calmly said:
"'Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon' can attack twice in a single Battle Phase—and each time it fails to destroy a monster, it banishes it!"
"In other words, even if you summoned 'Flame Dragon', it would be removed by Twin Burst's second attack—and my remaining three dragons would finish you off!"
Mars's face fell. The realization struck hard.
"You had that as backup?! So no matter what I did… it was hopeless?"
Li Yuu nodded coldly.
The viewers were dumbfounded!
They originally thought Zarc had just gotten lucky—maybe his deck just happened to counter Mars's.
But now they realized—Zarc had planned everything.He had set a trap with no escape.
Mars couldn't have won no matter how he struggled.
At last, the audience erupted in cheers for the victor:
"ZARC!! ZARC!!"
"A 1-star rookie beat an 8-star duelist—this is a legend in the making!!"
Mars accepted it with a sigh, then looked at Li Yuu and said sincerely:
"Zarc, your victory is undisputed. I admit my defeat."
"I'll go back to train in seclusion. Once I've grown stronger, I'll challenge you again. I hope you'll accept it then."
Li Yuu smiled brightly. "This duel was exhilarating. You're a duelist worthy of respect. I welcome your challenge—any time."
Mars forced a smile, nodded, and logged off.
Li Yuu glanced at the time and logged off as well.
The livestream ended—but the storm this duel created was just beginning to sweep across Duel Link…
Meanwhile…
In a corner of Duel Link, Mars nursed his wounds from the dragons' fury and returned to his private space.
Soon after, several silhouettes appeared.
One figure angrily shouted:
"Hey, Mars! What the hell happened? How could you lose so badly? You're an 8-star duelist! Beaten by a rookie with a new account?! You've humiliated us!"
Another voice snickered mockingly:
"Heh, the arrogant Mars couldn't even last one turn. Got destroyed by a noob. What a joke!"
Mars remained stoic. "Zarc defeated me fair and square. Say what you like—it doesn't concern me."
"You—!"
A female voice quickly interjected:
"This loss wasn't Mars's fault. Zarc's deck was in encrypted mode. Mars had no intel, while Zarc clearly understood Mars's deck. The information gap made the match unwinnable."
Another figure grunted, "She's right. Zarc is suspicious. During their duel, I tried to scan his deck—but I couldn't get anything. It's like his cards are encrypted by a force we can't access."
This unexpected result made everyone tense.
"We must take Zarc seriously. I have a bad feeling. He could become a massive variable—we must contain him before he jeopardizes our grand plan!"
"Agreed!"