"Tch..."
Exposed by Hikaru, Weevil's face stiffened slightly.
Dueling a junior while rigging his deck to draw perfectly... yeah, it was a little unsightly.
Of course.
That embarrassment only lasted a moment.
Winning was the only thing that mattered!
"Draw!" Weevil drew his card, then sneered coldly.
His hand was indeed rigged. To maximize the power of his insects, he ensured his opening hand was always the same.
Previously, his strategy was aimed at countering Rex Raptor's endless Dinosaur monsters, using Parasite cards to sabotage Rex's evolution spells. It relied on changing Types and wiping the board with Insecticides before using the Parasites to Tribute Summon high-level monsters.
Yet, now, things were different.
His eyes locked onto [Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem].
The opponent was completely different.
Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem had an effect that allowed it to revive a regular Ancient Gear Golem from the Graveyard upon destruction. If he wiped it with Insecticide, it would backfire.
In that case...
Ditch the useless cards. Swap them for that!
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Card Destruction!"
"Both players discard two cards from their hands, then draw two!"
"I discard Eradicating Aerosol and Petit Moth."
Hikaru glanced at his hand, discarded two others, keeping only [Elemental HERO Prisma], then drew two more cards.
After adjusting his hand, Weevil grinned slyly again.
"Brat, the time for a senior to go easy on his junior is over! Since you didn't chain properly last turn, now it's my turn!" He flashed a freshly drawn card.
The card shimmered with a golden glow, an ultra-rare.
"Quick-Play Spell, Cocoon of Ultra Evolution!" He shouted the card name as if announcing the most powerful card in the world.
"Oh! Just looking at it... It's clearly the same type as that dinosaur guy's Ultra Evolution Pill!" Tierra casually commented to Hikaru.
Her vision was back to normal now.
Hikaru nodded.
"Cocoon of Ultra Evolution is the strongest Insect support card. It lets you Tribute any Insect monster on either field equipped with an Equip Card to Special Summon any Insect from your Deck, ignoring summoning conditions!"
"Hehehe, even Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem is trash if I use it as Tribute!" Weevil cackled.
"I Tribute Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"
The Parasite latched onto the Golem's body, opened its mouth, spewing countless silk threads that wrapped around the mechanical giant, dragging it to the center of the Duel Field. The machine transformed into a glowing golden cocoon.
"Special Summon, Metamorphosed Insect Queen!"
Crack!
The cocoon burst open. A massive insect with crimson wings, a huge stinger, and an upper body vaguely feminine slammed onto the field with a heavy thud.
[Metamorphosed Insect Queen] Level 7│EARTH│Insect│2800 ATK
"Not done yet! The effect of [Parasite Paranoid] in the Graveyard activates!" Weevil's hunched posture straightened. "When it's sent to the Graveyard as an Equip Card, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or higher Insect from my hand, ignoring summoning conditions!"
"I Special Summon, Ultimate Insect LV7!"
A massive insect with a similar grotesque design to the Moth emerged from the corpse of the Parasite, fluttering onto the field.
[Ultimate Insect LV7] Level 7│WIND│Insect│2600 ATK
"Hehehe, sadly Ultimate Insect LV7 only gets its effect if Summoned through its own method... but this is still enough!" He pointed at Hikaru. "If this attack lands, you're finished!"
"Hikaru!" The staff shouted urgently.
Rex Raptor, watching the stream from the hospital, clenched the sheet in his hands.
"Battle! Hehehe, Metamorphosed Insect Queen, attack!"
"I activate my Trap, Necro Fusion!" Hikaru flipped his set card. "By banishing Fusion Materials listed on a Fusion Monster from my Graveyard face-down, I Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck! But the monster can't attack this turn.
I banish two [Ancient Gear Knight] from my Graveyard to Fusion Summon in Defense position, Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
The ancient machine, armed with six cannons, towered onto the field.
[Ancient Gear Howitzer] Level 8│EARTH│Machine│1800 DEF
"Hehehe, I knew you'd use a Trap like that." Weevil snickered. "You're just a Fusion Duelist! Every card you use revolves around Fusion.
I saw this coming. My Metamorphosed Insect Queen can attack again by tributing another Insect after destroying a monster! And since your Deck has no other Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, I have nothing to fear!"
"Continue attack! Metamorphosed Insect Queen, crush that [Howitzer]!"
The Moth flapped over, bit into the machine's gear core, and shattered it before returning to Weevil's field.
"Effect of Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
"When destroyed by battle, I Special Summon 1 Ancient Gear monster from my Deck, ignoring summoning conditions, in Defense Position!
Come forth, Ancient Gear Beast!"
[Ancient Gear Beast] Level 6│EARTH│Machine│2000 DEF
"Hahaha! Metamorphosed Insect Queen, devour Flying Kamakiri #2 and continue attacking!"
The Moth bit down on Flying Kamakiri #2, swallowed it whole, then pounced onto Ancient Gear Beast and tore it apart.
"Hehe, now all you've got left is that useless Field Spell!" Weevil grinned. "Battle continues, Ultimate Insect LV7, direct attack!"
Ultimate Insect LV7 shimmered and lunged at Hikaru, its spikes stabbing into his arm.
[Hikaru, LP: 4000 → 1400]
"Aha-ha-ha! How's that? Scared now?!"
Hikaru glanced at his arm, flexed it casually, then shook it off indifferently.
It was exactly the same as last time... so much so that Hikaru didn't even feel nervous.
"Pfft..." Hikaru's calm expression completely baffled Weevil. Why? Why wasn't he panicking when Weevil was clearly winning...
"Tch. Whatever. I activate Continuous Spell, Insect Neglect!" Weevil laid a card for defense. "End my turn!"
"Hehe, almost forgot. During my End Phase, Metamorphosed Insect Queen lays an egg!"
A massive egg fell from the Moth's abdomen onto the field.
[Insect Token] Level 1│EARTH│Insect│100 DEF
"Ew... Carbon-based filth," Tierra muttered. "Hikaru, hurry up and crush this guy."
"My turn, draw!" Hikaru remained unfazed.
Just because it's an Insect Deck doesn't mean it's unplayable. Plenty of people love Insects. If someone hated all Insects just because of Weevil... then "Fusion" wouldn't be worth anything either.
He drew a card, looked down—
Black Luster Soldier!
"Perfect. Now I can reuse the exact strategy you used against Rex Raptor."
"What did you say?!" Weevil's face twisted in horror. "You... you... what do you mean by that?!"
His entire body trembled instinctively. "Don't tell me, you're trying to prove that loser could've beaten me?!"
"No way... impossible! He's weaker than me for life! I'm the stronger one!"
...
Bonus Chapter @600
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