Magic Card Era: Infinite Deck Enhancement — Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Something Is Wrong With Your Magic Card Spirit

As the eldest daughter of the prestigious Shangguan family, Shangguan Wan’er was universally recognized as the absolute favorite to seize first place in the entire Youth Training Competition.

The moment she stepped onto the arena, the atmosphere shifted. Every contestant who had already secured their advancement locked their eyes on the stage, scrutinizing her every move. They all knew the grim reality: any one of them could draw her as an opponent in the upcoming brackets. Gathering intel on her was a matter of survival.

Even Luke, who had spent the entire morning zoned out in his seat silently drafting new Magic Card lore and background settings, finally snapped his attention back to reality. There were very few competitors in this stadium capable of piquing his interest, but Shangguan Wan’er was undeniably at the top of that short list.

Standing across from her was Nian Shi, a Magic Card Master hailing from Cang Yue City, the same hometown as Liu Yanran. The instant Nian Shi registered who his opponent was, a wave of sheer vertigo washed over him.

Damn it, did I piss off the gods of fortune today? Nian Shi’s face twisted into a mask of pure agony. First round of the draw and I get the tournament’s final boss? What kind of garbage luck is this?!

Ignoring her opponent’s visible despair, Shangguan Wan’er stood calmly on the battlefield. With a casual, elegant wave of her delicate hand, a faint, sweet floral fragrance bloomed across the arena. The scent rippled outward in invisible waves, spilling over the energy barriers and drifting into the spectator stands.

“Smells… so good…”

Dozens of onlookers inhaled the perfume, their expressions instantly melting into glassy-eyed intoxication, as if their very souls were being gently pulled from their bodies. Nian Shi, standing at ground zero, suffered the exact same fate. His eyes glazed over, his tense posture slumping into a relaxed, dreamy daze.

A split second later, a violent mental backlash ripped through Nian Shi’s mind.

The spiritual connection he shared with his summoned Magic Card Spirit abruptly severed. A flash of light erupted on the field as his spirit forcibly reverted into a card, shooting straight back into his body. The sheer shock of the forced retraction shattered his intoxicated stupor, leaving Nian Shi wide awake, his eyes bulging with disbelief.

A disconnected Magic Card Spirit returning to its master’s body meant only one of two things: either the master had actively recalled it, or the spirit had been instantly killed.

The match had literally just started. Nian Shi certainly hadn’t recalled his spirit. That left only one terrifying explanation—his Magic Card Spirit had been obliterated in the blink of an eye!

What the hell?! What just happened?! Panic clawed at Nian Shi’s throat. He had only zoned out for a fraction of a second, and his spirit was already dead? Even if you’re the tournament favorite, you still have to follow the basic laws of combat!

He felt as though someone had hit fast-forward on reality, or wiped his memory clean with a high-tier spell.

High up on the VIP rostrum, Song Yongzhang watched the display and slowly shook his head, keeping his silence. He had known from the start that the power gap between the two was impossible. Nian Shi was never going to win against Shangguan Wan’er, but to lose without even comprehending how he died? That was just embarrassing.

“What a ruthless execution,” Luke muttered from the competitor’s waiting area.

Unlike Nian Shi, Luke had seen the entire sequence with absolute clarity. The hypnotic floral scent hadn’t just enchanted the Magic Card Master; it had paralyzed his Magic Card Spirit as well. The moment both master and spirit fell into that perfumed haze, a dense cluster of vicious, razor-sharp thorns had erupted from the arena floor, mercilessly strangling Nian Shi’s spirit into digital dust before it could even twitch.

It was only then that Luke recognized the true identity of the entity Shangguan Wan’er had summoned.

It was a Six-Star Perfect-grade Magic Card Spirit—the Silver Crown Mandala Queen. In terms of raw quality, it was entirely on par with his Dark Magician Girl after her promotion! Even among the elite tier of Six-Star Magic Cards, the Silver Crown Mandala Queen was a terrifying apex predator, boasting a lethality far surpassing the Predatory Hunter Luke had encountered back at the Demon Spirit Home.

The Queen’s deadliest weapon was the potent, paralyzing neurotoxin hidden smoothly within her floral perfume. Nian Shi’s spirit had been completely immobilized by the toxic air, rendered utterly defenseless as it was crushed to death.

“Do you wish to continue?”

Shangguan Wan’er stood serenely amidst the dissipating scent. Behind the lenses of her rimless silver-framed glasses, her eyes held an ocean of quiet, unshakeable confidence.

Throughout the previous rounds, every single contestant had used two Magic Cards to fight their battles. Shangguan Wan’er had just ended hers with only one.

As her polite but chilling question echoed across the arena, the massive thorny vines beside her began to writhe. They climbed and intertwined, rapidly shrinking and reshaping themselves until they formed the figure of an incredibly cute, petite loli. A delicate silver crown rested atop the little girl’s head, adding a touch of regal majesty to her adorable appearance.

“Uh… is the Silver Crown Mandala Queen supposed to look like that?”

The collective expressions of the audience turned incredibly subtle as they stared at the tiny, harmless-looking girl. If their textbook knowledge served them right, the Silver Crown Mandala Queen was universally known to manifest as a mature, curvaceous woman with a dangerously explosive figure. How in the world had she mutated into a pint-sized loli in Shangguan Wan’er’s hands?

Yet, despite the jarring visual discrepancy, the suffocating aura of a Six-Star Silver Crown Mandala Queen was unmistakable.

“No need!” Nian Shi practically shouted, snapping out of his daze and shaking his head frantically. “I surrender!”

To the crowd, the Silver Crown Mandala Queen might have looked like an adorable, harmless child. But to Nian Shi, she was a smiling demon. This little girl had just effortlessly slaughtered his strongest Magic Card Spirit without him even seeing her move.

Hearing the prompt surrender, a faint, satisfied smile graced Shangguan Wan’er’s lips. She gave a gentle wave to the tiny Queen, retrieving the loli before elegantly turning and descending the arena stairs.

If you cut that girl open, she’d be pitch-black on the inside.

Watching her graceful exit, Luke dryly noted the classic two-faced manipulator traits. She was definitely a haraguro.

He quickly pushed the thought aside, rolling his shoulders as he stood up from his seat. With Shangguan Wan’er’s match concluded, his turn was finally up.

He was next.

As Luke stepped out of the waiting area and began his walk toward the battlefield, the atmosphere on the rostrum subtly shifted. Chairman Yu, who had been casually chatting with Song Yongzhang, immediately straightened his posture, his eyes locking onto the young man.

Catching the sudden change in demeanor, Song Yongzhang raised an eyebrow and followed the Chairman’s gaze, his eyes landing squarely on Luke.

Song Yongzhang hadn’t personally accompanied the team to the inter-academy exchange competition between Cangling City and Cang Yue City, but he had heard the after-action reports from Lin Heling. He knew full well that Liu Yanran—a prodigy he personally favored—had suffered a crushing defeat at Luke’s hands.

While Liu Yanran’s loss had surprised him, Song Yongzhang hadn’t been particularly upset by it. No one was invincible forever, and tasting defeat early on was often the best catalyst for growth. However, the reports had definitely sparked his curiosity about this Luke. More, during his conversations with Lin Heling, he had sensed that the notoriously battle-crazed City Lord genuinely respected Luke’s strength—a rare compliment from a man with such impossibly high standards.

Sitting nearby, Mo Yingtian narrowed his eyes, sharply observing the sudden focus of both Chairman Yu and Song Yongzhang.

Mo Yingtian clearly remembered how, just a short while ago, Chairman Yu had been grinding his teeth in frustration when Mo Yingtian had boasted about his own students. Yet now, the Chairman was displaying an unusual, intense calm. That sudden shift in confidence instantly put Mo Yingtian on high alert.

At the very front of the VIP seating, Shangguan Hong and Vice President Shangguan paused their quiet conversation. Exchanging a brief, knowing glance, they turned their attention toward the arena, their eyes silently tracking Luke as he stepped up to the platform.