After hearing his words, a strange expression appeared on You Ye's face.
He was actually considering whether he should tell Riseheart the truth—that aside from Riseheart himself, the entire Kshatri-La clan had long since been ready to become his spirit domain, and that he even already possessed Fenrir's original card.
Touching his chin, You Ye thought for a moment, then took out Fenrir's original card, preparing to summon him.
Having the wolf explain things personally would be better.
Seeing You Ye's summoning motion, the disdain on Riseheart's face only deepened.
In his eyes, You Ye was already frightened before the battle even began. After learning of his power from Melo, he knew he couldn't win, so he planned to summon Narcissus Mermaid, the leader of Tearlament, to gather intelligence.
The sneer on Riseheart's lips grew colder.
Within the human world, the duel rules granted him authority.
Under that authority, he could soon seal You, Ye, from using all Tearlament cards except Red Mermaid.
In other words, summoning Narcissus Mermaid would be pointless.
He would simply shut down Tearlament completely and still crush You Ye, with ease.
Just as he was thinking about how to "handle" You Ye—
A red spirit wielding twin axes appeared.
Although the spirit had shrunk to roughly human size, Riseheart recognized him instantly.
His mind went blank.
Fenrir?!
No—impossible.
Fenrir's temperament was well known. Not killing an opponent with the first swing already meant he was in a good mood.
Handing over his original card to a human duelist—and responding to a summon?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
It really was Fenrir himself.
Riseheart's face flushed crimson as he exploded in rage.
"Fenrir! What are you doing?! Looking for a human duelist?! You've completely disgraced the Kshatri-La clan!"
"If there's a suitable human duelist, why wouldn't we give ourselves to him?"
Fenrir, who had just answered the summons and was wondering why You Ye had called him out, bowed slightly toward You Ye.
Then he turned to Riseheart and calmly asked back.
"A suitable human duelist? Him? Have you been bewitched by that traitor Red Mermaid?! Just because he obtained Tearlament, you think he can obtain Kshatri-La as well? What kind of logic is that?!"
"Of course not," Fenrir replied.
"It's Lord You Ye's strength that made every Kshatri-La spirit—except you—want to become his domain. You should have handed over the domain to Lord You Ye already. There's no need to duel."
"…Good. Very good. Everyone except me?!"
"So while I was gone, you stole my entire clan right out from under me?!"
Riseheart was already seeing red.
In his eyes, Fenrir had been completely brainwashed by You Ye—utterly lacking the pride a Kshatri-La spirit should have.
And it wasn't just Fenrir.
The other Kshatri-La spirits were the same.
Worst of all, You Ye had stolen his home.
How could he possibly tolerate that?
At this moment, Riseheart wished nothing more than to imprison You Ye inside a Shangri-Ira Cocoon, turning him into a lifelong slave of the Kshatri-La—
A warning to all humans and spirits alike.
The Kshatri-La were the strongest spirits and the strongest domain.
No matter what happened—even if the entire domain were wiped out—they would never hand over original cards to human duelists, nor become a human's domain.
Those who obtained power through trickery would only earn eternal slavery inside Shangri-La.
"—No," Fenrir began to explain.
But You Ye had already stepped forward, standing in front of Fenrir and facing Riseheart.
"So," You Ye said calmly, "you refuse?"
"Of course. Didn't you come here to save these people?"
"Fine. Come—if you win, I'll spare every human here."
Riseheart had fully turned into an enraged hothead, incapable of listening.
Seeing this, You Ye's lips curled into a faint, mysterious smile.
Riseheart seemed irrational, yet he was still playing word games.
No matter—You Ye would soon teach him that no wordplay mattered.
"Let's begin," You Ye said.
"Hmph. Before the duel, I use my authority to ban you from using all Tearlament cards except Red Mermaid—along with those annoying board-breakers and hand traps. I won't allow you to wield the power of those mermaids!"
"Doesn't matter," You Ye waved it off. "It's all the same."
He was already considering whether to shock Riseheart with something even more brutal—but after a moment, he dismissed the thought. His Thunder Frog setup wasn't complete yet. If that card came out, it would have to be at full power.
So instead, his gaze turned toward Branded.
Although Branded was restrained by Kshatri-La, Wang Cheng had given him the Bullet and Barrel domain cards earlier. Aside from Gimmick Puppet Nightmare, the Branded core was nearly complete.
And honestly—
A near-complete Branded deck was more than enough to crush pure Kshatri-La.
With a sweep of his arm, a dark-red Duel Disk appeared on You Ye's left hand.
As the duel was about to begin, Wang Cheng quietly placed a purple card onto the ground.
Everyone noticed—but no one stopped him.
After several previous duels, Riseheart already knew this was a city-protection barrier, isolating the duel from the outside world. You Ye, had also been informed earlier.
You Ye (8000 LP) vs. Riseheart (8000 LP)
The rules allowed Riseheart to choose.
He took the first turn. Both sides drew five cards.
Riseheart's Turn
"I activate Pot of Desires. Banish ten cards face-down—draw two."
"I activate the Field Spell Theosis, adding Scareclaw Kshatri-La to my hand."
"Since I control no monsters, I Special Summon Kshatri-La Unicorn. Unicorn's effect—search Birth of Kshatri-La. I activate Birth, targeting Unicorn."
"Birth's effect—Special Summon a Kshatri-La monster with a different Attribute from my Deck in Defense Position. I summon Fenrir."
"Until the end of this turn, I cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck except Xyz monsters!"
"Fenrir's second effect—once per turn, I add Kshatri-La Riseheart to my hand. Then I overlay Fenrir and Unicorn!"
"Xyz Summon! Rank 7—Kshatri-La Shangri-Ira Cocoon!"
A massive dark-red cocoon appeared above the duel field.
Crimson patterns spread across the surroundings, as though reality itself were being assimilated.
Wang Cheng's eyes filled with gravity.
Most of the Duel Association's losses had been worn down by this very monster.
Munin felt deep fear—its aura was extremely dangerous.
Melo, however, looked surprised. She hadn't expected Shangri-Ira Cocoon to exert such pressure in the human world.
Fenrir quietly stood behind You Ye, blocking the oppressive aura for him.
Even so, You Ye could still feel it—and understood even more clearly why Earth-rank and Heaven-rank duelists were forbidden from dueling inside cities.
"I Special Summon Kshatri-La Riseheart from my hand!"
"Riseheart's effect—once per turn, I banish another Kshatri-La card from my Deck. Then I banish three cards from the top of your Deck face-down, and my Level becomes 7!"
Riseheart licked his lips.
"Human duelist—witness the true power of Kshatri-La!"
"Shangri-Ira Cocoon's effect—each time one of your cards is banished face-down, I seal one unused Main Monster Zone or Spell & Trap Zone!"
"I seal one of your Main Monster Zones."
"Afraid yet?"
He raised three fingers.
"Three turns. In three turns, I'll seal every zone you have. You won't summon monsters. You won't activate spells or traps. I'll slowly beat you to death!"
"…Three turns?" You Ye, twitched slightly.
"That's slow."
"What was that look? Looking down on my lockdown?!"
"Yes," You Ye nodded.
Wang Cheng and Sheng Ning were stunned.
Melo, familiar with Kshatri-La, was intrigued—You Ye was clearly implying he could seal everything in one or two turns.
Fenrir smiled knowingly.
Riseheart slammed another card down.
"I overlay Riseheart onto Shangri-Ira Cocoon!"
"Born of wrath—let rage rule the mind!
Roar as a heavenly demon within crimson towers!"
"Xyz Summon! Rank 7—Kshatri-La Arise-Heart!"
A black-and-red armored spirit emerged, axe in hand, radiating fury.
Everyone present—human and spirit alike—felt anger surge within them.
"I Special Summon Scareclaw Kshatri-La, then banish Big Bang from my hand!"
"Arise-Heart's effect—when a card is banished, attach one banished card as material!"
"Chain Link 2—Big Bang! When banished, target a Kshatri-La Xyz monster, return one of its materials to hand, then Special Summon it!"
"I target Shangri-Ira Cocoon!"
"Resolve—Big Bang Special Summons Fenrir; then Arise-Heart attaches Big Bang as material.
Finally, I overlay Fenrir and Scareclaw—Xyz Summon a second Shangri-Ira Cocoon!"
"I end my turn."
Riseheart sneered.
"Struggle all you want, human."
You Ye's Turn
"Draw."
During the Standby Phase—
"I activate Shangri-Ira Cocoon—Special Summon Unicorn!"
"Theosis triggers—destroy Shangri-Ira Cocoon!"
"It detaches a material instead!"
Arise-Heart replaced the detached card as material.
"Your turn."
You Ye calmly entered Main Phase 1.
"I activate Gold Sarcophagus, banishing Despian Tragedy."
"Hahaha! Helping me banish cards?" Riseheart laughed.
"Arise-Heart attaches another material!"
"Chain Link 2—Despian Tragedy. When banished, add Aluber the Jester of Despia."
Unicorn triggered, banishing Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon face-down from the Extra Deck.
Both Shangri-Ira Cocoons are chained—sealing two more Main Monster Zones.
You Ye Normal Summoned Aluber, adding Branded Fusion.
Arise-Heart banished Aluber face-down—but Branded Fusion was already in hand.
"You've lost," Riseheart declared triumphantly.
"All five Main Monster Zones are sealed!"
You Ye, remained calm.
"I activate Branded Fusion."
He sent Fallen of Albaz and Tri-Brigade Mercourier to the Graveyard.
"I Fusion Summon—Albion the Branded Dragon, in the Extra Monster Zone."
Arise-Heart tried to activate—
"Chain Link 2—Albion! I negate that effect, then return Arise-Heart to the Extra Deck."
The furious god-machine was blown away by Albion's roar.
Riseheart stared, stunned—then laughed grimly.
"Impressive… now I understand why Tearlament and Fenrir 인정 you."
Fenrir banished Albion face-down.
Both Shangri-Ira Cocoons sealed two Spell & Trap Zones.
Seven zones were gone.
The spectators turned pale.
Only Melo and Fenrir remained calm.
You Ye calmly placed one last card.
I activate That Grass Looks Greener.