Chapter 606: The Dust of the Silver Cup Has Not Settled (6k)
BOOM!
When the sound wave ended and the dust settled.
The white light devoured the black flames!
The “Lava Mummy’s” dark fire was completely extinguished. The destructive white light swallowed its right arm, further exacerbating the already plummeting total mana it possessed.
The “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon” flew in the air, coldly looking down at the “Lava Mummy,” which had been blown back by its breath, and spoke again!
The white light ball rapidly gathering in its mouth made Sarah Swati on the blue side competitor platform feel as if she were in an ice cave.
“How can it still shoot!”
Whether it was the students, professors, or spectators, no one could have imagined that this “Blue-Eyes Young Dragon” could be so powerful!
Sarah took a deep breath, slowly picking up her hand cards from the table.
Even though her heart had sunk, giving up was not her style.
Reflecting carefully, everything seemed to have spiraled out of control since that adult White Dragon hatched from the dragon egg.
Despite the fact that this adult White Dragon was only one star higher than the “Baby Blue-Eye Dragon,” the additional star meant an increase in stats and the ability to continuously emit the “Destructive White Light,” making the “Blue-Eyes Young Dragon” far more powerful than the “Baby Blue-Eye Dragon.”
With the “Destructive White Light,” the “Blue-Eyes Young Dragon” transformed into a cannon, becoming a nightmare for low-star Mana Spirits.
Even the “Lava Mummy,” a seven-star Mana Spirit capable of achieving near-immortality for a short time, couldn’t withstand this barrage of shots.
……
“Battle Phase (7)” [30s]
Tick!
At the moment the turn changed, Sarah drew another card.
There weren’t many Mana Guidance Cards left in her deck, and Sarah knew very well what she might draw.
Her brain worked to the limit, trying to find the last possible way out of this desperate situation.
Boom!
The “Lava Mummy” finally fell after the “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon” shot it countless times.
Sarah summoned a three-star Mana Spirit in the blue summoning zone for now.
Then…
That three-star Mana Spirit was instantly consumed by the destructive white light piercing through the entire field!
The “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon’s” “Destructive White Light” could consistently unleash its full power.
Under normal circumstances, a three-star Mana Spirit would not survive in this destructive beam.
After the three-star Mana Spirit was instantly killed, the “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon” opened its mouth again.
As the white light ball gathered in its mouth once more, a faint sense of despair quietly spread.
The spectators outside seemed to feel this aura, gradually calming down.
Before the “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon” could shoot again, Sarah failed to summon another card.
Thus, the “Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon” targeted the blue Mana Guidance Ball.
With the final destructive white light, the Mana Guidance Ball Life Barrier, already cracked, crumbled like weathered rock.
Sigh…
Seeing the number representing her life points drop to zero, Sarah felt a slight sense of relief.
But she quickly closed her eyes, slapped her cheeks hard, and tried to gather herself.
No strong person has ever walked the path of success without stepping on the blade called “failure.”
She couldn’t fall on the path of growth.
Instead, having someone to catch up to on the road ahead was a very fortunate thing.
Sarah took a deep breath, organizing her Mana Guidance Cards.
And the referee’s whistle sounded.
“The battle ends.”
“The winner: Dark Demon!”
……
“This tense and suffocating duel has finally come to an end. Today, Dark Demon participated in three duels and won all three, earning a total of nine points. Compared to December this year, we will surely see him on the stage of the quarter-finals.”
Announcer Zach Wilson, with his tense nerves finally relaxing, said with a tone of emotion.
“Furthermore, although Sarah Swati lost this duel, her performance was also remarkable. It’s rare to see such high-level dueling in a second-year competition. She truly lives up to being the successor of the ‘Ancient Sage,’ and her performance was excellent.”
……
The spectators outside applauded enthusiastically, with many people starting to chant Dark Demon’s name.
They hadn’t forgotten that the designer of the simulation duel game was also named Dark Demon!
In this situation, Dark didn’t need to promote himself; the audience further deepened their impression of simulation duels and became increasingly interested in them.
After all, they could easily see that Dark Demon would surely become a rising star in the world of duels.
And the props for the simulation duel… were like the souvenirs of this future star duelist!
Suddenly, the simulation duel seemed to take on some value unrelated to the game itself.
……
In the front row of the spectator seats.
Alvaraite was already whispering with the two Viscountesses beside her.
Although she kept talking about the advantages of her own treasure, the Viscountesses listened without any annoyance, even joining in the discussion.
Next to them, Prince Charles frowned slightly, letting out a sigh of resignation.
He wasn’t specifically here to watch anyone compete today; he just happened to be free and came to relax with a duel.
After all, there weren’t many major forms of entertainment in the kingdom.
He was currently in a critical period of establishing his image and couldn’t go to those miscellaneous places for leisure.
Therefore, the St. Maryan Duel Hall became a good place for him. However, after watching today’s “Silver Cup” opening ceremony and subsequent duels, he did not feel relaxed but instead gained more worries.
On one hand, it was because the growth of the Valkyrie’s child was truly terrifying.
On the other hand, it was due to the rise of simulation duels…
The current kingdom was in a very special era.
The most basic livelihood issues were solved due to the explosive growth of Mana Technology, achieving “food for all” in an extremely short time.
And when people are fed, they instinctively seek more satisfaction.
This is how the so-called “Renaissance” came about.
People crave spiritual entertainment and need more cultural materials to fill the emptiness left by war.
Thus, various forms of art and entertainment emerged.
But among these, the rise of Mana Duels played a crucial guiding role.
Because the general perception was that wars were driven by human nature, seeking more satisfaction…
To be able to win, one relies on the power of the Magi.
Therefore, after the war, people shifted their admiration for powerful Magi to the pursuit of Mana Duels.
The extraordinary enthusiasm people have for Mana Duels originates from this very shift.
And “Simulated Duels,” as a simplified version of the全民 game依托ing “Mana Duels,”
not only inherits people’s goodwill towards Mana Duels but also greatly reduces the threshold for participation.
Moreover, it has the authoritative certification of Saint Maryann Academy!
Thus, the rise of “Simulated Duels” is almost a foregone conclusion.
Charles always felt that he foresaw the future.
Behind the “Simulated Duels” was Dark Demon, which meant it was the Valkyrie’s industry to him.
The Valkyrie was already quite troublesome, and now she had such an explosively commercially potential industry…
If she were to gain momentum, she could probably manipulate public opinion from multiple angles.
If the Valkyrie’s power ultimately surpasses the Church of the Saints, then it will be a huge disaster for him!
“No, I need to think of a solution…”
Charles leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.
Headache…
While the spectators outside had various thoughts, the two contestants on the Dueling Stage began to converse.
“Your White Dragon can shoot too much.” Sarah couldn’t help but complain, her tone unusually weak.
Dark knew this was the time to encourage the other, so he said, “Your spells and secret rituals have broadened my horizons. That ‘Lava Mummy’ triggered a high-speed self-healing type of Ultimate Skill at the end, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sarah nodded.
Dark smiled, “Then I’m lucky. My ‘Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon’ happens to counter this type of Ultimate Skill. But come to think of it, it was thanks to your ‘Mana Drain Spell.’ Otherwise, I might not have chosen to hatch the ‘Blue-Eyes Young White Dragon.'”
Of course, even if a ‘Baby Blue-Eye Dragon’ hatched, he could transform it back into a Dragon Egg and hatch it again.
But this process would be more complicated and there was a risk of breaking the Dragon Egg.
Sarah did not dwell on this point, instead suddenly smiling and saying, “Should I say something fierce right now? Oh, by the way, where is your White Cat?”
She clearly remembered wanting to say something fierce after being teased by that White Cat during her first-year class competition, but ended up saying nothing useful. In the end, she just casually said, “I won’t forget today’s humiliation.”
Now, a year later, she lost again on the Dueling Stage, but no longer with irrationality.
She was satisfied with her growth and regained some of her composure.
But when asked by Dark, he thought of something and sighed, “It’s not in this Deck.”
He had put all the Golems except Agumon into Mana Cards, but used only twenty of them in the end.
This deck, which was initially built around the theme of “Bliss,” ultimately relied on “Pride IV” for victory.
If you think about it, this wasn’t really a successful attempt.
However, in three consecutive duels, he felt a smoothness he hadn’t before.
The reason why this “Bliss” deck didn’t perform ideally shouldn’t be due to any “conceptual” issue, but simply because it lacked more series Mana Cards.
For example, there was no “Bliss IV”!
…
“If the concept is sound, what’s needed next is accumulation over time.”
Dark lowered his head in thought.
When he looked up again, Sarah had already left the stage.
And Senior Judy appeared beside him through teleportation.
“The third time tonight.”
A delicate whisper like a gentle breeze blew into his ear, causing Dark to step back half a step.
He looked serious and said, “Three minutes.”
Senior Judy rolled her eyes secretly and turned to the audience, “As you can see, Dark Demon, who has stood on the Dueling Stage for the third time tonight, has won the duel once again! And we will interview him for the third time after the duel.”
“I know everyone is curious about Dark Demon and wants to know more about him. But we can only bring up non-public information with his permission.”
“So, tonight I want to try a new approach—let Dark Demon control the Q&A session himself!”
“What do you think?”
After carefully digesting this, the spectators suddenly became excited and started shouting.
Just as Judy said, they were very curious about Dark Demon.
Since the host can’t ask questions freely, why not let the contestant ask and answer themselves?
What a brilliant idea!
But amidst the tidal wave of shouts, Dark looked at Senior Judy as if she were a fool.
Who would ask questions that would trouble themselves in a self-asked and self-answered session?
For instance, he definitely didn’t want to be called the “Son of the Valkyrie” like Wit.
If he had to choose, he’d rather be called the “Father of Simulated Duels!”
There must be some benefit to this self-asked and self-answered session.
Since he was exposed as the designer of “Simulated Duels,” he might as well use this opportunity to announce it.
In the meantime, he could promote “Simulated Duels”!
Currently, every Dueling Hall worldwide is selling Duel Disks, Cards, and Cards hidden in Model Easter Eggs.
The sales data from this first period will serve as a basis for how much resources should be allocated for promotion in the future.
After all, predictions, judgments, and intuitions are meaningless without real data.
The market is ever-changing; only actual data obtained after entering it can provide concrete insights.
If Dark plays his cards right, he might even boost sales.
…
He pondered thoroughly and then took the microphone from Senior Judy with a smile, facing the audience.
“I’ll start by introducing myself. Here is Dark Demon, a second-year student at Saint Maryann Academy and part of the Noble Academy. Many people have heard of the Demon surname, so I won’t go into further details. Since Senior Judy asked me to do a self-asked and self-answered session, here goes my first question.”
“Question One, what are your thoughts on this duel?”
“Firstly, this is a question that needs to be asked from the perspective of a host.”
“As this is an interview with a winner after the duel, it’s the most basic.”
“As a Duelist, I found this duel quite enjoyable. It ignited my passion as a Duelist and brought excitement.”
One of the greatest joys of dueling is
For the unknown, Sara Swati brought too many surprises to me. I really like it.”
…
Sara Swati, who had just stepped down from the Competitors’ Platform, momentarily paused in her steps.
But she quickly blushed, realizing that she had misinterpreted the situation.
“Really, what was I thinking…”
…
After quickly expressing his views on the current duel, Dak asked his second question.
“Question two… Is the simulation duel game truly your design?” Dak glanced at the smiling Senior Judy beside him and said.
“I know everyone is very interested in the authenticity of this matter.”
“Here, I want to answer, yes, it is true.”
“But the simulation duel evolved from mana duels. If we say it was entirely my personal design, it wouldn’t be entirely accurate. I merely simplified and improved the rules of the duel on the basis of mana duels, adding more strategic elements.”
“After all, the simulation duel and mana duel are different. Some additional elements are needed to expand its depth, such as the ‘graveyard.'”
“In the simulation duel, the existence of the ‘graveyard area’ allows us to easily bring back destroyed golems. Various resurrection mana cards will also be gradually released later.”
“As for the card designs, although most of the golems have prototypes and are basically the golems shown by the students of Saint Maryann Academy, there are also quite a few cards that are indeed my original creations.”
“I can add some effects in the simulation duel cards that are hard to achieve in reality, which is very interesting.”
…
The three-minute interview soon came to an end. Dak continued to enthusiastically explain.
Judy did not interrupt, and the audience listened intently.
A few more minutes passed, and the design concept of the simulation duel slowly unfolded through Dak’s words.
If one were to insist, it wasn’t actually difficult.
After all, it was a duel game aimed at the general public, with lowering the difficulty as the core focus from the beginning.
The real challenge was creating something from nothing!
By the time Dak finished speaking, the audience was astounded and had no doubt about him being the designer.
Both Dak and the simulation duel gradually gained different labels.
Dak’s title as a duelist also gradually emerged.
—”Designer of XX!”
Although it lacked a descriptive suffix, the audience preferred calling him “the designer of the simulation duel” over his name.
Over time, the title “Designer of XX” might well come into being.
Originally, the title of duelist was a testament to popularity.
…
“So, that concludes the interview.”
Dak placed his hand across his chest and bowed slightly before returning the microphone to Senior Judy.
Senior Judy then smiled and said, “We have taken up too much time from the next duel. Since our audience has been satisfied, please welcome the next group of competitors to take the stage.”
…
When Dak descended from the Competitors’ Platform, the next competitor was already waiting at the entrance of the tier.
He greeted the student and walked straight towards the Competitors’ Passage.
Not long after, Dak returned to his seat in the circular area.
Tudor and Pistons immediately began asking him various questions.
He signaled them to lower their voices so as not to disturb the other spectators, then responded softly.
But as he spoke, the student behind him couldn’t help but chime in with questions.
Clearly, everyone was more interested in his identity as the designer than in the duel happening on stage.
…
As time passed, the opening duel of the “Silver Cup” finally neared its end.
At exactly nine o’clock, the evening’s matches were declared over.
The spectators outside began to leave one by one.
The students and professors inside also stood up and left.
A massive stream poured out of the Outdoor Duel Arena.
Dak had no intention of being part of the crowd, so he waited outside for a while.
Then Tudor suddenly interjected, “Dak, how about we eat something at Traveler’s Street tonight? I’ll treat you.”
Dak Demon… received his first night meal invitation from a male classmate since enrolling!
But he thought for a moment and declined…
Though he regretted it, he already had plans for a night meal tonight, so he could not accept Tudor’s invitation.
Tudor sighed, “Is it Aurora? She’s been bringing you night meals for a month now. Do you know how it feels to smell the aroma in the hallway every night when we open the door?”
Dak chuckled and said, “Have fun tonight, guys.”
“Alright.” Tudor sighed and, along with Pistons and a few others from their circle, prepared to visit the night market in Traveler’s Street for some snacks to relieve stress.
Yes, stress.
The opening duel of the “Silver Cup” tonight, apart from being a visual feast, also brought immense pressure to most of the second-year students with ambition!
Why should you be so impressive when we are all in the same grade?
…
The presence of a top-tier figure always raises the overall level.
…
Dak walked slowly at the back of the crowd.
But at some point, Diana and Rose appeared hand in hand beside him.
The three of them walked together, heading toward the tower under the moonlight.
They climbed the spiral staircase and arrived at the tenth floor of the clock tower, where the lights were bright.
Opening the door, they found Agumon telling a story to Tiny Night Bird.
Baby Bear, with its short arms and legs, sat on the sofa, holding a book.
As for the other two competitors from the Magical Animal Club… they probably went straight back to the tower after watching the match.
Dak summoned the Mana Book first, then summoned all the other golems with its assistance.
The schedule for the next day and the day after would likely be announced by midnight tonight.
But Dak guessed his schedule for the week was already set, so he didn’t pay much attention.
However, Diana and Rose excitedly discussed the upcoming duel matches.
They stayed in the Magical Animal Club until almost ten o’clock, then returned to the tower of the Noble Academy.
Dak had just finished Aurora’s nourishing soup and was discussing today’s “Silver Cup” with her when the Selection Card in his Mana Card Deck suddenly vibrated.
“Bip—”
A notification sound indicating incoming information rang out.
Dak pulled out the Selection Card with some confusion and realized he still had matches scheduled for the next two days!
…
[Good morning!]
[8/?]
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