Snow activated his second face-down card, [The Sword Without a Hilt]. When this card is equipped to a monster, it increases its attack power by 1000 points, but its controller loses 300 LP at the start of each turn.

Previously, during his own turn, Snow could have used this card. As long as he set it during the Main Phase, he could have equipped it to the [Lampshade Ghoul] during the Battle Phase and knocked off another 1000 LP from Jue-ge.

But he didn't...

And just now, when Feng Bujue used [Sakamoto-kun] to attack the [Lampshade Ghoul], Snow could also have activated this card to respond.

But... he still didn't use it.

Because he knew very well... the most threatening card to him right now was the [Sword-Wielding Trickster]. The potential of this card was terrifying. Snow preferred to deal 1000 less LP damage, prefered to give up the chance to counter-kill a monster, to save the [The Sword Without a Hilt], and activate it at a time when it could truly eliminate the [Sword-Wielding Trickster].

If he had used this card to counter-kill the opponent's [Sakamoto-kun] or to deal a little more damage, he would have been in an awkward situation: when the [Sword-Wielding Trickster] attacked him, he would have a 2500 ATK [Lampshade Ghoul] on the field.

In this situation, first of all... [The Ogre's Awakening] would become a useless face-down card. If he activated it, the summoned monster's attack power might not be as high as the monster on the field; if he didn't activate it, then the card would be a waste, and if the [Lampshade Ghoul] was destroyed, he wouldn't be able to activate it even if he wanted to.

Secondly, in that situation, the initiative would be completely in Feng Bujue's hands.

He could use the [Sword-Wielding Trickster] to forcefully attack the [Lampshade Ghoul] equipped with [The Sword Without a Hilt]... with a two-thirds chance of winning.

He could also choose not to attack and sell another round of HP. That way... in the next round, unless Snow could summon a 4000 ATK monster while keeping the existing monster on the field to instantly kill Feng Bujue, then... as long as Snow summoned a monster, the number of attack dice for the [Sword-Wielding Trickster] would increase by one, which, in theory, could increase its attack power by 6000 points.

Imagine, in the round after Jue-ge sold his HP, if he rolled two sixes during the Battle Phase and slammed 12,000 attack power on the [Lampshade Ghoul] (a monster that attacked during the Battle Phase cannot be changed to Defense Position during the Main Phase), then the 9500 point difference would be deducted from Snow's LP, and the result would be... a one-hit kill.

Although... the probability of that happening was small, it wasn't zero; even if he didn't roll 12 points, taking an average value, it would still be six or seven thousand attack power... not to mention, Feng Bujue would also draw a card in the next round, and who knew what else was in his deck...

Snow's way of playing "card games" was based on "absolute rational thinking." Even if his luck was always good, he wouldn't take unnecessary risks; he would try to avoid choices where there was a one-third chance of gaining an advantage and a two-thirds chance of screwing up.

His philosophy was to fight steadily, gradually encroach... establish an advantage in the field, LP, and card advantage, and use "the difference in strength" to gradually lead the opponent into despair and defeat.

Therefore, after multiple deductions, Snow chose to endure and wait... until the moment in front of him, where he was sure he could achieve his goal, before activating [The Sword Without a Hilt].

"Heh... what a pity..." As Snow spoke, a giant sword, "entirely made of blades," appeared in the hands of the [Eight-Armed Snake Demon]. The latter held the sword and slashed, cutting the attacking [Sword-Wielding Trickster] in half, turning it into a burst of white light, "If you had rolled a 4, 5, or 6... then I wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"Hmph... you deliberately waited until this moment to activate it?" Feng Bujue muttered.

"Of course." Snow replied, "I was waiting for your 'attack declaration' to be completed and for the Trickster's 'attack power random value to be generated' before activating this equip trap, depending on the situation... this way I can ensure that troublesome monster is dealt with."

Di di di—

Just as the two were talking, as the [Sword-Wielding Trickster] died, another die floated in mid-air, and after a burst of buzzing, it settled on the number 3.

Then, a beam of white light sprayed out from the image of the die, hitting Feng Bujue.

This scene was caused by the negative effect triggered by the death of the [Sword-Wielding Trickster], which was—"Roll a die and make its controller lose the corresponding LP"; and 3, represented... a full 3000 LP.

Including the attack point difference caused by the previous battle with the Eight-Armed Snake Demon, in this round of confrontation, Feng Bujue not only lost a monster, but also lost 3200 HP, which was a heavy loss.

"Hehe... still a 3, I thought it would be a 6 or something." Seeing this, Snow smiled and said, "Fortunately... that's enough." A triumphant look had already appeared in his eyes, "You only have 3300 LP left now, and your [Sakamoto-kun] on the field is a humanoid creature, under the influence of the [Oxygen-Deprived Zone]... he can't act as your barrier; in other words... when it's my turn, as long as I can draw a monster card, combined with the 3200 ATK [Eight-Armed Snake Demon] on the field, I can send you on your way." He spread out his hands and shook his head, feigning a sigh, "Alas... it seems I'm going to win in just two turns. But... facing an amateur, this is to be expected."

Snow put on a confident pose, and his mocking remarks were incessant and well-founded.

However...

"Are you done?" There was no sign of losing on Feng Bujue's face. His eyes were still firm, "Then... this daddy is going to continue..." He paused for half a second, and a hint of a smile even appeared on the corner of his mouth, "This daddy's Battle Phase... isn't over yet..."

"What?" Snow's expression changed slightly, "Are you being silly? You don't want to attack my 3200 ATK Snake Demon with that 2000 ATK high school student on your field, do you?"

"[Sakamoto-kun]'s special effect... activate!" In the next second, Feng Bujue uttered a declaration.

[Sakamoto-kun]'s special effect is—During any phase of our turn, when the opponent has at least one card in their hand, the player can perform a "card guess". If they can guess the type of all the opponent's cards, the opponent must discard all their cards, and for each card discarded, Sakamoto-kun's attack power increases by 1000 points. This effect can only be activated once, and cannot be activated again after failure.

"This guy... you're going to gamble again..." Hearing the declaration, Snow finally showed a serious expression.

"This isn't gambling..." Feng Bujue said, "You've already told me the type of the two cards in your hand, haven't you?"

As soon as he said this, a look of horror appeared on Snow's face, and he couldn't help but blurt out, "Oh... oh no!"

"Hmm, good acting." Feng Bujue... stared with his dead fish eyes and sneered, "From triumph, to hesitation, to panic... you've generally acted it out, hehe... but it's not convincing enough." With that, he pointed at Snow and said, "The two cards in your hand are—a Magic Card, and... a Monster Card!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Snow's expression... froze.

In that instant, he was truly shocked, shocked by the opponent's move to "guess a monster card"...

A full five seconds later, he reopened his mouth in an icy tone: "How... how did you guess that?"

"Heh... it's very simple." Feng Bujue replied with a smile, "When the reversing effect of [Bureau Chief's Prophecy] was generated, you had already exposed yourself..." He paused and said, "You probably don't know this yourself... When the system broadcast said 'randomly display a card from the player who organized this duel' your gaze naturally fell to your hand; and a second later, when the phrase 'cancel all summoning privileges for the player's next turn, including normal, special, fusion, etc.' was halfway through, your gaze... unconsciously shifted to the card on the left in your hand."

"You can assert that that card is definitely a monster card based on that alone?" Snow immediately asked, "It could also be some kind of magic or trap related to 'summoning'."

"You're right, based on that glance alone, my certainty was about six to seven out of ten." Feng Bujue smiled, "What really made me certain that that card was a monster card... was your sentence just now 'when it's my turn, as long as I can draw a monster card'..."

"Tch... did I overcorrect myself..." Having said this, Snow already knew where his problem was, and said resentfully.

"Yes, that kind of line that seemed to be shouting 'I don't have a monster card in my hand', coupled with your exaggerated acting, was simply an admission..." Feng Bujue continued, "Obviously, you're not the kind of person who 'doesn't read the card descriptions of their opponents during duels'; when the negative effect after the [Sword-Wielding Trickster]'s death took effect, you didn't show any surprise at all, which shows that you looked at and remembered the effect of that card in detail; therefore, you also know what [Sakamoto-kun]'s effect is... presumably, from the moment [Sakamoto-kun] appeared, you were already preparing to mislead me..."

"So, you gave me that performance just now." Saying this, Jue-ge also imitated the other party's appearance just now, spreading his hands and shaking his head, "Hehe... if I may be frank, your superficial acting really has a lot of room for improvement... Although the control of your facial muscles is still relatively in place, but those absent-minded eyes, that deliberate tone, and the completely forgotten body language... can't pass the test in front of a real con man."

Feng Bujue's words, in a sense, had already placed himself in the camp of tricksters, swindlers, and thieves, but judging from his expression when he said this... it seemed that he had no moral or dignity issues with this at all.

"In summary, apart from the field magic you played in the last round and the two traps set on the field, the remaining two cards in your hand are no different from being in the open as far as I'm concerned." After pausing for two seconds, Feng Bujue said in a concluding tone, "One of them is the magic card [Bubble] that I've already flipped over and looked at in the first round, and you also know very well that I'm bound to guess this, so... you've painstakingly tried to hide the fact that the other card is a 'monster card'."

"Hoo..." Hearing this, Snow let out a long sigh, and quickly returned to his usual confident and arrogant expression, "Okay! Wonderful! Amazing!"

He used three words in a row to praise Jue-ge, and took the opportunity to put the two cards in his hand into the graveyard slot of the duel disk.

"As expected of the man I've taken a fancy to." Snow's psychological quality was excellent, and he regained his composure as quickly as possible, "For a few minutes just now, I even thought your plan was to 'deliberately act like a moron so that I'd give up on finding you as a consultant', now it seems... you were faking it after all?"

"Faking it? Faking what?" Feng Bujue raised his head and spoke frankly, and once again pointed his arm with a powerful gesture, shouting, "When I stand on the stage of a duel, I will never pretend to be someone I'm not!"

"Uh..." Seeing this chuunibyou display, Snow was really a little confused, and he thought to himself, "An unfathomable man... could this be the legendary super high IQ chuunibyou madman setting? Hmm... actually... come to think of it, it's quite cool..."

"Okay, let's get back to the topic, [Sakamoto-kun]'s effect has been successfully activated..." Feng Bujue didn't give the other party a chance to speak further, "Go! Secret Technique - Sideways Shuffle!"

Following Jue-ge's declaration, [Sakamoto-kun] really elegantly began to shuffle sideways on the field, turning into afterimages, and his attack power also rose to 4000 points as a result.

"[Sakamoto-kun], attack the [Eight-Armed Snake Demon]!" Feng Bujue's attack declaration followed closely, "Secret Technique - Knee Impact!"

After this shout, [Sakamoto-kun] seemed to teleport to the back of the [Eight-Armed Snake Demon] in an instant, his body only half a step away from the snake demon, almost touching the opponent's back curve.

Then... [Sakamoto-kun] leaned his upper body back, supported his thighs with both hands, bent his knees forward... and thrust his knee with all his might.

"Hey, what kind of monsters is this guy using, what kind of strange attack method is this... can he really complete the kill..." Seeing this scene, Snow couldn't help but complain in his heart.

But... the reality was: Under the opponent's thrust, the [Eight-Armed Snake Demon] swayed and lost his balance, fell sideways to the ground in a very unfortunate posture, and was forced to fall on the giant sword in his hand, being pierced straight through, and a second later, with a "bang", it turned into white light... shattering.

Di di di di—

The sound effect of the duel disk deducting points reminded Snow... that his LP had lost 800 points due to this battle.

At this point, Feng Bujue's second turn ended, both sides had no cards in hand, and Jue-ge had a 4000 ATK monster standing on the field, with zero face-down cards.

And Snow... even his field was empty.