Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Mana Asks for Trouble, Eliminating the Competition First

Circuit Connection. It was a highly specialized ability exclusive to a Monarch Realm Magic Card Master. Through this invisible tether, even if a Magic Card Spirit was separated from their master by vast distances, the two could communicate across the void without a single fraction of a second in delay. By tapping into the corresponding circuit, the Magic Card Master could smoothly project their consciousness, observing the battlefield through their spirit’s eyes. It was the ultimate tool for a tactician, allowing one to dictate the flow of war from a thousand miles away.

A step above that lay Origin Synchro, a domain strictly reserved for a King Realm Magic Card Master. While fundamentally an evolution of the Monarch Realm’s Circuit Connection, it transcended simple telepathic communication, blurring the lines between master and spirit entirely.

A few seconds later, a familiar rush of mana signaled a return. Dark Magician Girl’s vibrant figure descended from the distant sky, landing gracefully by Luke’s side in a flutter of blue and pink silk.

“Just as I suspected.” Luke reached out, taking the glowing Trial Crystal from Dark Magician Girl’s hands. A look of deep realization washed over his features as he examined the smooth, complex surface.

“Master, what did you guess?” Dark Magician Girl tilted her head, her large emerald eyes blinking in genuine confusion.

“At first, I assumed the Trial Crystal was anchored to the ground, completely immovable since the stronghold had already been generated.” Luke reached out, playfully pinching Dark Magician Girl’s soft cheek. She let out a feigned sound of annoyance, though she leaned into the touch rather than pulling away. “But after watching you retrieve it so easily, I realized my initial assumption was dead wrong. And that little revelation opened up a very interesting possibility.”

Luke tossed the Trial Crystal lightly into the air and caught it. The glowing digits suspended within the gem still read a static 114.

“Killing Mimetic Beasts earns points,” he explained, his voice dropping into a low, analytical murmur. “But the moment you carried this crystal past the stronghold’s designated borders, the numbers froze. It didn’t generate the passive hourly points, nor did it absorb any points from the monsters we just slaughtered.”

He tapped the crystal’s surface. “In other words, once a Trial Crystal is removed from its stronghold, its point generation completely halts. However—and this is the crucial part—the accumulated points don’t decrease, either.”

Luke’s lips curled into a slow, wicked smile. “More, when you crossed the threshold and took the crystal out of the stronghold, I didn’t feel a single warning or penalty from the trial’s monitoring array.”

His smile widened, carrying a distinct edge of predatory anticipation. The rigid rules of the Trial Road had just revealed a massive, exploitable loophole.

Dark Magician Girl stared at him for a long moment before crossing her arms. “Master, do you have any idea how perverted you look when you smile like that?”

The wicked grin instantly froze on Luke’s face. “Mana, are you actively asking for trouble?”

Before she could retreat, Luke’s hands darted out, ruthlessly kneading both of her cheeks. Dark Magician Girl let out a muffled squeak, struggling fiercely and swatting at his wrists, but her meager physical strength was utterly useless against him.

After a long, satisfying moment of torment, Luke finally exhaled a breath of amusement and released her. Dark Magician Girl instantly flashed several meters away, rubbing her reddened cheeks pitifully while glaring at him with heavy wariness.

Leaving the pouting girl to her devices, Luke shifted his focus inward, establishing a mental link directly to Sistermon Ciel’s circuit.

‘Ciel, what is your current status?’Noticing the shift in her master’s demeanor, Guilmon obediently trotted over to Dark Magician Girl’s side. The two adorable creatures immediately began exchanging quiet, sympathetic murmurs, forming a small alliance of solidarity.’I have already located ten trial strongholds and marked their coordinates one by one,’Sistermon Ciel’s crisp, professional voice echoed clearly in his mind. Despite rushing through the dense wilderness, her breathing was perfectly even. She didn’t miss a single step, entirely unbothered by Luke’s voice suddenly manifesting in her head.’Ten strongholds already? In such a short window of time?’Luke arched an eyebrow. He had always trusted Ciel’s extraordinary scouting capabilities, but her sheer efficiency was staggering.’It seems deploying you for this operation was the right call.’

Miles away, as Sistermon Ciel darted through the canopy, a faint, pleased smile graced her striking features. Earning her Tamer Lord’s praise was a reward she cherished deeply.

But her smile quickly faded into a mask of absolute focus. using the two-way nature of the Circuit Connection, she asked, ‘Tamer Lord, are you contacting me to issue a new directive?’Luke bypassed the pleasantries, swiftly relaying his recent discoveries regarding the Trial Crystal mechanics.’Understood. So, Tamer Lord wishes for me to intervene and seize their Trial Crystals?’ Sistermon Ciel instantly grasped the tactical angle.

Luke’s objective wasn’t to waste time hunting down the other freshmen participating in the Trial Road. His goal was far more surgical: strip them of their Trial Crystals.

As long as a crystal remained within its stronghold, its owner could steadily accumulate points by surviving the clock or slaughtering the released Mimetic Beasts. But the moment that crystal was stolen and carried away, the victim’s score would permanently stagnate.

Yet, the strategy went far beyond mere sabotage.

If Ciel could harvest the Trial Crystals of the other freshmen and bring them back to Luke’s stronghold, there was a very high probability that his own point generation would multiply exponentially.

While this specific theory remained untested, Luke was highly confident. The academy’s rules never explicitly stated that a Trial Crystal could only absorb points within its original stronghold. Just as the rules never explicitly forbade moving the crystals in the first place, this omission created a massive blind spot in the trial’s design.

Even in the worst-case scenario—where the stolen crystals refused to generate points for him—the tactical advantage was still absolute. The freshmen who lost their crystals would be entirely crippled. They could slaughter every Mimetic Beast in the forest, and it wouldn’t matter. Without their crystals, they couldn’t record a single point.

They would lose their basic starting hundred points, effectively forcing them to finish their enrollment with a humiliating score of zero.

‘Are you confident you can handle them?’ Luke asked. He had originally deployed Sistermon Ciel to scout the perimeter, intending to thin the herd later in the trial. Accelerating the timeline now wouldn’t disrupt his overall plans.

As the hours dragged on, other sharp-minded freshmen would inevitably discover the crystal loophole. When that happened, the forest would devolve into a chaotic bloodbath of theft and betrayal. While Luke possessed absolute confidence in crushing anyone who crossed his path, striking first was simply the most efficient route.

‘Yes,’Sistermon Ciel replied a few seconds later, her tone laced with absolute certainty.’Then execute the operation,’Luke commanded, finalizing his decision.’I will monitor your status through the circuit. If you encounter heavy resistance, you are authorized to undergo X-Evolution or Super-Evolution.’

In her base form, Sistermon Ciel wielded formidable Five-Star strength. However, her innate Awakening skill allowed her to instantly shatter her limits, temporarily granting her the devastating power of a Six-Star entity.

If even that proved insufficient to crush her targets, Luke could remotely manipulate his deck, triggering Sistermon Ciel’s Super-Evolution and X-Evolution to push her combat power into a terrifying new realm.

Through Super-Evolution, Sistermon Ciel could access one of her Ultimate forms: Eosmon.

The Ultimate-level Eosmon possessed the terrifying advantage of high-speed flight, a trait that alone would render most freshmen entirely helpless., Eosmon wielded the ability to conjure flawless illusory shadows through mirror manipulation, trapping enemies in a maze of deception. Using such a high-tier ability merely to escape would be a laughable waste of potential.

Eosmon’s raw offensive power was equally catastrophic. Even against enemies of the exact same tier, she possessed more than enough destructive force to tear them apart.