Chapter 173: Dark Demon VS Emma Mortis
Dark, stepping down from the player stand, quickly met up with Diana.
Diana pouted, full of reluctance: "If I had known earlier that you hadn't drawn a Magic Guide Spirit, Dark, I should have summoned a new Magic Guide Spirit during my second summon, even a useless card would have worked as a projectile!"
Dark chuckled softly: "That's why, no matter what you do, you should learn to think first."
Diana complained: "But my brain isn't that bright!"
Dark: "It'll get brighter with more use. All right, let's go check the next one."
Arena #2.
As members of the Winner's Bracket, Emma Mortis's duel was still ongoing.
Her opponent—the #5 student from the Patient House—was unexpectedly tenacious. Although the white cards in his hand lacked ultimate skills, their base stats were good, and his summoning speed wasn't slow.
He managed to prolong the duel until now, relying on his numerous white cards.
A quick tally by some students revealed that by the end of the duel, he had summoned a total of ten Magic Guide Spirits!
Unfortunately, these Magic Guide Spirits weren't strong enough.
...
"My next opponent is Emma again, as expected?"
Dark focused slightly, faintly sensing Emma, still on the player stand, gazing in their direction.
By the end of this round of matches.
In the Winner's Bracket, out of 4 contestants, 2 advanced: #1 Dark and #5 Emma. #2 Diana and the #6 student from the Patient House were relegated to the Loser's Bracket.
However, there are countless examples in competitions of contestants fighting their way up from the Loser's Bracket to claim victory.
Besides deck strength, strong luck and strategy are also very important in determining the outcome of a duel.
Contestants in the Loser's Bracket, by summarizing their experiences and adjusting their decks or strategies, could very well turn defeat into victory.
In this round of the Loser's Bracket.
#3 Sara Swati easily won when facing the #4 male student from the same Magic House.
The #7 student from the Knight House narrowly defeated the #8 student from the Patient House, successfully advancing to the next round of the Loser's Bracket.
Meanwhile, #9 and #10 were successively eliminated.
...
The new schedule was released quickly.
Winner's Bracket:
Arena #1: #1 vs. #5
Loser's Bracket:
Arena #2: #2 vs. #7
Arena #3: #6 vs. #9
...
Dark found a long bench to sit on and began to recharge his Magic Guide Cards and adjust his deck!
Drawing lessons from the previous duel, Dark's deck adjustments this time primarily focused on "streamlining."
With the current inability to change the temporary lack of first-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards and the absence of card synergy for Magic Guide Cards.
He could only try to minimize the probability of "no monsters in starting hand" within the rules.
If possible, it would be best to try and counter Emma's deck.
But in reality, this was difficult.
Dark first re-added [Pride I] to his deck.
Using [Pride I] to counter [Golden Coffer] was a fairly conventional strategy.
Then he temporarily streamlined all other magic cards, adding [Magic Beast: Eevee], [Trash Slime], and [Shuckle] to his deck, while second-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards remained pending.
Dark had actually considered only carrying five Magic Guide Spirit Cards as his deck…
That way, he'd have all five cards in his opening hand!
But upon closer thought, he realized that if it were a combination of three first-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards + two second-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards, as long as the opponent could summon a powerful enough three-star Magic Guide Spirit in the first turn, like [Bear Spirit], Dark would almost certainly lose!
Up to this point in the match.
Information about the contestants' decks had been more or less exposed.
As Dark gradually grasped the core Magic Guide Cards of other contestants, they likewise gained an understanding of his core Magic Guide Cards.
For instance, in a previous match, Sara Swati used [Sphinx Cat] to lock down [Shuckle], preventing him from performing a Sacrifice Summoning.
And among his first-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards, [Magic Beast: Eevee] and [Trash Slime] were both super weak, which led him into a difficult situation.
But this wasn't actually the optimal solution.
To Sacrifice Summon a four-star Magic Guide Spirit, he would need [Shuckle] + [Magic Beast: Eevee], or [Shuckle] + [Trash Slime].
So, if they just waited for Dark to summon [Magic Beast: Eevee] or [Trash Slime] and then defeated them…
That wouldn't be a difficult situation, but a desperate one!
[Shuckle]'s weakness of slow movement speed had probably been exposed, so Emma would likely choose a tactic of ignoring [Shuckle] and instead targeting [Magic Beast: Eevee] or [Trash Slime] for defeat.
As long as she defeated them before the Sacrifice Summoning Technique was complete, Dark wouldn't be able to summon a four-star Magic Guide Spirit at all!
—His mastery of Sacrifice Summoning Technique was insufficient, thus his speed was not fast.
Therefore, a deck containing only five Magic Guide Spirit Cards was almost certainly a death wish.
He needed to ensure he had extra cards to guarantee the survival of [Magic Beast: Eevee] or [Trash Slime].
"Then I can add another [Fading Charm]."
"Additionally, to counter the BUG tactic of throwing the Magic Guide Orb high into the air, I need a [Push Spell]."
"[Magic Bullet Charm] and [Barrier Charm] can be temporarily streamlined out."
"As for [Blink Spell]... I'll set it aside for now."
"Three second-tier Magic Guide Spirit Cards are also too many."
"[Sylveon] has a ranged attack skill and must be kept."
"[Gatomon] and [Miltank] can be chosen between."
"[Gatomon] has the blessing of [Holy Ring], the best base stats, and the highest mobility.
"[Miltank] is a tank; when it uses Rollout, it's unstoppable!"
"But at this stage, [Miltank]'s convenience is inferior to [Gatomon]'s; furthermore, [Gatomon] also has the control skill [Cat's Eye]."
...
The result was:
▼
[Magic Beast: Eevee]
[Trash Slime]
[Shuckle]
[Sylveon]
[Gatomon]
[Pride I]
[Push Spell]
[Fading Charm]
▲
Only eight Magic Guide Cards.
With a five-card starting hand, the probability of not drawing a first-tier Magic Guide Spirit Card would be extremely low.
In fact, if he streamlined one more card, he could guarantee a 100% chance of drawing a first-tier Magic Guide Spirit Card.
But Dark didn't do that; he needed to add a bit of leniency for error.
Emma's summoning speed was faster than Diana's, and her deck was definitely more unpredictable than Diana's, making it difficult to deal with.
...
After his initial adjustments, Dark continued to ponder while recharging his magic.
Then, a sudden inspiration struck him: "Wait, what if I further streamlined this deck down to five cards, for example, a combination of [Trash Slime], [Shuckle], [Sylveon], [Gatomon], and [Pride I]?"
This idea instantly jolted him awake, making him much clearer-headed.
In this match, where there was no deck size regulation, five cards in hand was the baseline.
[Pride I] would be used to counter [Golden Coffer].
The high-altitude tactic would be countered by [Sylveon].
Emma didn't have a Magic Guide Card like [Sphinx Cat] that could lock down sacrifices, so there was no need for three first-tier Magic Guide Cards at all!
As for how to ensure the survival of sacrifices, the necessity of having both [Sylveon] and [Gatomon] present simultaneously…
Dark's thoughts became increasingly clear, and he finally made his decision.
The final result was:
▼
[Trash Slime]
[Shuckle]
[Sylveon]
[Gatomon]
[Pride I]
▲
Time passed quickly.
Contestants needed to hurry to recharge their magic and make adjustments; a half-hour interval was barely enough.
Students outside the competition were still engrossed in lively discussions about the previous round, finding no boredom in the wait.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed.
A new round of matches began!
...
As the number of competition arenas decreased from four to three, Professor Claire, who was temporarily in charge of the Patient House, became free.
She naturally appeared at Arena #1 for the Winner's Bracket, coming to observe Dark's match.
Among the remaining students, almost all the students from the Noble House and Knight House also gathered here.
Most of the Magic House students were at Arena #2 watching Sara Swati's match.
The Patient House students, meanwhile, gathered at Arena #3.
...
As the match was about to begin, Dark and Diana encouraged each other, then each went to their respective arenas, while Rose followed Diana.
Diana's opponent for this round was the #7 contestant from the Knight House.
He was a cheerful-faced male student who, in the first in-class competition, had offered encouragement to a defeated Virt.
His demeanor and physique were like those of a standard paladin, and he was quite popular in the Knight House.
His name was Justin Wayne.
Although Wayne was in the Loser's Bracket, his strength was not weak.
This duel would be a test for Diana.
...
Dark walked onto the player stand, thinking about Diana.
It was still the Red Team's player stand, a setting he was very familiar with. He first placed the mere five Magic Guide Cards into the card slot.
After being activated by magic power, the card table began to shuffle automatically.
He looked at the Magic Guide Cards, which remained only five no matter how they were shuffled, and a strange smile appeared on his face.
"This will probably be the last time in my life I use such a rogue tactic in a duel."
"It's time for revenge!"
...
On the other side, Emma Mortis also ascended to the Blue Team's player stand.
Gazing from afar at Dark Demon on the opposite side, Emma clenched her five fingers, gripping her fist tightly!
In the first in-class competition, she had been defeated by Dark.
That failure also changed her life.
She took Dark's "advice," tried to change herself slightly, and ultimately made it this far!
Looking down at her classmates cheering her on, Emma pursed her lips, not allowing herself to smile happily.
Deep down, she truly hoped to gain more recognition from others.
Emma raised her head again, her eyes gleaming brightly.
...
Dark then heard Emma's declaration: "Dark, this time I will definitely win!"
Dark paused for a moment, then smiled faintly: "Alright, I'm looking forward to it."
Their exchange concluded, and the match entered its preparation countdown.
[Preparation Phase][30s]
Dark immediately focused, the magic flowing within his body maintaining a high level of activity.
Then, he directly drew all five Magic Guide Cards from the card slot!
In that instant, sharp-eyed spectators immediately noticed that on the projection of the card table, Dark's card slot was already empty of Magic Guide Cards!
"What's going on? He only brought five Magic Guide Cards?"
Doron, who had been closely watching Dark, gasped in surprise.
The chubby classmate beside him wondered: "Could he have picked up the wrong deck?"
That was, of course, impossible.
Several nearby students couldn't help but glance at him.
Not far away.
The two girls from the Knight House, Susan and Lucy, who always sat on either side of Emma, also noticed the number of cards in Dark's deck.
One of them was beaming, while the other had a grave expression.
The beaming Susan couldn't help but raise her voice: "Only five Magic Guide Cards? What if he runs out? Our Emma won't go easy on him."
Seeing the Knight House students start to clamor, Lucy quickly nudged her arm and whispered: "Tone it down, I have a bad feeling."
Professor Claire, standing behind the students, exchanged a glance with Professor Jones, who was serving as the referee, then smiled with her arms crossed.
In any case, the audience suddenly perked up.
...
Meanwhile, the two contestants on the player stands remained unaffected.
The thinking time of less than 30 seconds wasn't long. Emma was diligently thinking based on her hand cards, not paying attention to Dark.
Among her five hand cards, conspicuously, one was [Golden Coffer], and another was [Golden Beast]!
[Golden Beast] was a Magic Guide Spirit Card that Emma had successfully refined during her Magic Guide Theory class.
At that time, Dark had refined [Shuckle], Diana had refined [Bear of the Earth], Virt had refined [Troll], and Robert had refined [Half-Machine Ratman].
[Golden Beast] was refined using ancient gold coins as its core material.
It had appeared in previous matches several times; it was a Machine Species approximately two meters tall with an outer shell cast from gold!
[Golden Beast]'s might had been demonstrated in several matches, and Dark had already heard a little about it.
...
[Battle Phase][30s]
The moment the text displayed on the card table changed.
Both contestants simultaneously began their summons!
"Magic Guide Summon!"
"Magic Guide Summon!"
Dark was still a step faster; the white light shot from his Magic Guide Card landed on the Red Team's Summoning Zone.
Shuckle, after materializing, extended four limbs from its shell.
It blinked, shifted slightly in place, and then retreated back into its shell, leaving only a small head visible.
Because Dark had given it a "Defense" command before the match, it was now particularly cautious.
Only a few seconds later.
Emma successfully summoned [Golden Beast] on the eighth second of the Battle Phase!
The Golden Beast, appearing in the Blue Team's Summoning Zone, looked from its appearance alone like a fierce lion constructed of gold!
Its form was like the stone lions often placed at the sides of grand gates.
But it was more majestic and ferocious.
Dark had seen similar things in the book"The Golden King and the Secret Treasure".
After summoning Golden Beast, Emma immediately commanded it to charge towards the Red Team's Summoning Zone!
From its appearance.
Shuckle and Golden Beast were incomparable; it seemed Shuckle could be bitten to pieces in one go.
But Emma, of course, wouldn't be fooled by Shuckle's appearance; her strategy was very clear.
Approach the Summoning Zone, and after Dark performs his second summon, eliminate the other Magic Guide Spirit intended as a sacrifice!
...
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