Inside the Phantom Valley.
A spacious, small island was exceptionally calm, with no signs of wind or waves disturbing its tranquility.
However, this outwardly serene atmosphere was shattered when two figures appeared.
"Welcome to the Phantom Valley."
"In general, simulated duels do not pose a life-threatening danger."
"The terrain is a small island (approximately 50 meters in diameter), and the pain perception is one-fourth of reality."
"If a duelist voluntarily declares surrender within the Phantom Valley or loses consciousness and cannot recover, they will be transported out of the Phantom Valley."
"The initial distance between duelists is 20 meters."
"The duel will officially begin in 30 seconds. Please prepare."
"Not bad, they've made the description more rigorous," Dekan commented as he looked at the prompts.
For instance, the second sentence now included the phrase "in general."
Dekan calmly donned the "Crown of Suffering" (3x pain, one time invulnerability) and put on a strange defensive artifact that resembled a suit of armor.
He didn't immediately summon the "Ruined Poet."
Flatta was a long-range mage and the Ruined Poet would be an easy target for his magic.
Dekan observed Flatta. He was preparing in the distance, taking out a tier 5 staff and equipping several low-tier functional accessories.
Flatta met Dekan's gaze and smirked with a hint of cunning.
"Get ready to be completely countered by me. Consider it a lesson," Flatta taunted.
Then, three cards emitting a sparkling purple light appeared in Flatta's hand. Soon, three tier 5 creatures were summoned!
Three imposing suits of armor stood beside Flatta.
Their black, heavy armor exuded a chilling aura, and the greatswords in their hands made a thunderous sound when they touched the ground.
If it weren't for their ghostly blue eyes, it would be hard to believe that these were three summoned creatures.
"Flatta went all out, didn't he?" someone in the audience couldn't help but remark.
"This guy is really wealthy. He specially acquired three counter cards just to deal with Dekan," another person added.
Flatta had summoned three "Living Armors."
[Living Armor]
[Category: Summon Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Tier: 5]
[Effect: When this summon creature is defeated, if it does not receive a sufficient amount of fire/light/holy attribute damage, it will become stronger and after 15 seconds.]
[Note: I will not scatter!]
As undead entities, they couldn't perceive pain.
Even if they attacked Dekan forcibly, they wouldn't lose their combat ability due to Dekan's pain return.
Moreover, Living Armors possessed extremely high defense and durability.
Even if Dekan used the most powerful tier 3 spell cards, he wouldn't be able to break through their defenses.
Even if Dekan managed to eliminate one of the Living Armors with a clever move, he wouldn't have the capability to completely defeat it.
It could be said that Dekan had almost no way to deal with these three Living Armors on his own.
"Duel begins."
As the countdown ended, both were prepared for battle.
Flatta was the first to play a "Pain Nullification" card on himself.
Meanwhile, Dekan also used a spell card with an unknown effect.
This spell card seemed somewhat special.
Even though Dekan had clearly triggered it just now, Flatta couldn't use his identification skill to interpret its effect.
In theory, even encrypted tier 3 cards shouldn't escape the identification from a tier 5 mage like Flatta.
Flatta felt a hint of unease and chose not to attack Dekan recklessly.
On one hand, he didn't know what spell card Dekan had just used and, on the other hand, he wasn't entirely sure if Dekan had other counter-damage cards.
He focused his attention on directing the three Living Armors to attack Dekan.
When dealing with Dekan, the safest approach was to use tier 5 summon creatures.
It was also the most reliable way to overpower him.
Back in the Demon Academy, Faceless's approach to dealing with Dekan was spot on.
Unfortunately, Faceless hadn't anticipated Dekan's pain-based attacks and didn’t carry cards that nullified pain. He also didn't have summons like the "Living Armors."
"Nice cards. If only I could send you The True Sun God," Dekan sighed as he looked at the three Living Armors advancing toward him.
Whenever there were three monsters on the opponent's side, Dekan felt an itch in his heart, as if he wanted to sacrifice them as offerings to a god.
Unfortunately, Dekan couldn't create cards of that caliber yet.
However, he had anticipated that Flatta would use high-tier summon creatures specifically tailored to counter him and he had prepared a countermeasure.
Dekan revealed three equipment cards and gently tossed them out.
Instantly, three black streams of light attached themselves to the "Living Armors."
On the armor of each Living Armor grew a sinister and dark mask.
Flatta's heart tightened, and he quickly identified the card effect that Dekan had used.
[Cursed Soul Mask]
[Category: Equipment Card]
[Grade: Blue Uncommon]
[Tier: 2]
[Effect: Can be equipped to the opponent's summon creatures. Equipped summon creatures cannot be dismissed and their mana consumption becomes twice as high as the original.]
[Note: Summoning should be done with a sense of commitment.]
Seeing the effect, Flatta felt relieved.
He had been worried it might be one of those unreasonable control cards!
Generally, it was difficult for tier 2 equipment to control tier 5 summon creatures.
Unless the quality was extremely high and the conditions were stringent, it would be challenging to achieve total control.
Fortunately, these were three meaningless junk cards.
"Haha! Just..."
Just as Flatta was about to taunt Dekan, Dekan activated another spell card.
[Nirvana’s Temptation]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Rarity: Purple Rare]
[Tier: 2]
[Effect: Within a 100-meter radius, mana consumption doubles. Maintaining this card's effect will continue to drain the user's mana.]
[Note: Is this a duel in Nirvana?]
Suddenly, the small island was filled with the glow of fireflies, as if a group of light fairies had descended to frolic here.
Flatta's face instantly turned dark like the bottom of a pot
His mana was overflowing like a unleashed flood!
Flatta started panicking.
He knew he had to end this battle quickly!
Fortunately, as long as the three Living Armors could reach Dekan, one strike would be enough to take him out!
However, just as he was thinking this, he saw Dekan, standing opposite him, grinning.
It was an incredibly sunny smile, as if devoid of any malice.
Was there still a surprise?
Flatta suddenly felt a chill in his heart, and his eyes became uneasy.
When the three Living Armors were about to reach Dekan, he unsurprisingly pulled out another spell card.
Frost filled the air, and Dekan's body was instantly encased in ice!
He seemed to have turned into a puppet sealed within an ice crystal!
