Want to play cards? I'll use my King's Deck!

[Honglian: I think it'll be difficult, after all, we're still here. Your Xingfeng team probably doesn't have any guaranteed victory this year.]

[Blue Princess: Hmph! You dare to say that? You haven't even seen what we're really like when we get serious. If you ask me, apart from Yuki, none of the others in your team are even worth my attention!]

[Shining Wind Girl: Oh dear, we've been underestimated. What should we do, Xiaoxi, Xiaoxue?]

[Yuki: Uh... Is the alliance going to break down before it even started?]

Wendy: Don't worry, Yu Xi. This is just a trivial rhetorical trick used by two old women trying to gain the upper hand.

[The Perfectly Charming 16-Year-Old Maid: An Old Woman?]

[Red Lotus: An old woman?]

Wendy: Look, they've suddenly formed a united front.

—No, I think you're quite courageous too.

Yu Xi couldn't help but glance at the girl with the calm expression again, as if those words hadn't come from her mouth. But Yu Xi could vaguely see a death star shining above Wendy's head.

[The perfectly poised and elegant 16-year-old maid: Fine... since it's been said, there's no point in continuing the stalemate. How about we just form a defensive alliance between Xingfeng and Qingcheng for the rest of this round of the competition?]

[Honglian: Okay. We won't engage in formal combat. We'll share our plans and objectives with our allies, deal with each other's enemies, and provide timely support and cover for teammates when they falter. That's roughly it, right?]

[The perfectly elegant 16-year-old maid: No objections, this agreement is reasonable.]

This kind of alliance is not bound by a contract, but is limited to a verbal agreement, and can be torn up at any time, so there is no need to make very detailed terms.

As long as there's no crisis of trust, even a rudimentary alliance won't pose a major problem.

Moreover, it's unlikely that either side will truly let their guard down.

[Blue Princess: Wait! Saki! I'm the captain! Why didn't you ask me before making this decision?]

[The Perfect and Elegant 16-Year-Old Maid: So, Miss, are you going to refuse? Refuse the possibility of becoming teammates with Mr. Yuuki.]

[Blue Princess: Hmm... Becoming Yuki's teammate... Alright, since you've brought it up, I'll reluctantly agree—Yuki, let's fight together from now on!]

[Yuki: Yeah, let's do our best together, Mashiro.]

"Alright, the alliance between Xingfeng and Qingcheng is now established."

After Wendy finished her chocolate bar, she stuck out her tongue and licked the crumbs between her fingers, then asked Youxi, "Now, can I go with you?"

"Since they're companions, then there's no problem."

Since Wendy had gone to such lengths, Yu Xi naturally had no reason to refuse. He nodded and said, "I'm going to meet up with Xue and the others now. You should come too, Wendy. And call Mashiro and the others over as well."

"it is good--"

After a short rest, Yu Xi and Wendy, having regained their strength, immediately set off.

With elves as scouts, unless someone can erase their presence like Wendy, they are unlikely to be surrounded and attacked without being noticed. When encountering a lone enemy, they can easily take them down in a two-on-one situation.

Before long, the two met up with Izayoi Yuki and the other person who were waiting at the foot of the tall, pointed building.

Following closely behind, Saki, who was using her stealth skills to the fullest, also brought Mashiro Kaiba along.

The six-person team was now assembled.

It's time to implement the next step of the plan.

"Now that we've formed an alliance, we have to make good use of this advantage."

Having randomly chosen a room out of sight from the outside, Izayoi Yuki took the lead in initiating this impromptu meeting.

While waiting for everyone, Izayoi Yuki had clearly been thinking a lot about what the alliance should do.

"With so many high-level combatants, wiping out the weak teams should be a piece of cake. But rather than doing that, I think the best option is to take this opportunity to collect as many puzzle cards as possible while eliminating the strong teams as possible."

"I see."

Saki immediately understood the reason why Izayoi Yuki proposed this plan.

"We're not the only ones who've thought of forming alliances. As time goes on, most of the other strong teams will probably realize this too. No, I should say that some people are already doing it now."

No matter how many weak teams gather, they are not a threat until they reach a certain number.

But strong teams are different.

It doesn't take many people; just two or three teams working together can produce a terrifying qualitative change.

Although strong teams generally have their pride and wouldn't do something like ganging up on a smaller team, and in previous years many teams have played their own game. But people can be flexible, especially since there's a huge mountain weighing on everyone's heads right now.

Strike first and gain the upper hand. If we can take down these strong opponents early in the game, things will definitely be easier later on.

"Let's start with these teams then."

Saki took out a map from her phone, circled a certain area on it, and marked it.

"On my way to pick up the young lady, I happened to see a few people. Based on my estimation, they are probably in these places now."

The pattern on the marker is lightning and ice crystals.

The target is the Azure Thunder Academy and the Ice Ocean Academy, which are second only to Star Peak and Beacon Fire!

Chapter 183 The Death Within the Castle (Not Really)

"Oh dear! Good afternoon, everyone! I am your host, Marie Korsey! I will be hosting this Star Cup match!"

"Let's review the previous rounds. Nearly three hours have passed since the start of the competition. In these two hours, many participants have had their puzzle cards taken away, becoming temporarily eliminated. After the initial chaos, the teams have gradually stabilized, with most of the surviving teams being veterans of the Star Cup. Here is the current card ranking for each team—"

On the large screen displaying the 3D images, school badges appeared one by one, which were the marks of each team. On the right was the number of puzzle cards each team held.

Based on the number of puzzle pieces they had, these teams were temporarily ranked as superior or inferior.

The highly anticipated Star Peak ranking remained high, but after that, the unexpectedly rising Qingcheng High School, which defeated Chenguang for the first time, fell behind by several places.

However, the top spot is not occupied by Xingfeng, the previous champion of the Star Cup, but by the school emblem composed of lightning, followed by an ice crystal pattern.

—"Azure Thunder Duel Academy", "Ice Ocean Duel Academy".

Duel Academy, which has long been ranked below Star Peak and Beacon Fire, and occasionally rivals Beacon Fire for second place, is a prestigious school with a long history. This year, it seems that several extremely talented students have been recruited, who have great ambitions and aspirations to vie for the throne of heaven.

The industrial zone, which was being used as a battlefield for the duel in the city, was now being suppressed by the combined efforts of the two school teams.

While using it as a base, they also managed to capture a few interesting prey.

"Damn it! Have Azure Thunder and Ice Ocean teamed up?"

Ranpo Jounouchi blocked the incoming shockwave with his hand, and his face turned extremely ugly when he saw his trump card being destroyed by lightning.

He had originally planned to search for enemies and slowly reunite with his teammates after being teleported in. However, he encountered a lone member of the Azure Thunder Academy and chased after them, but he didn't expect it to be a trap.

The people from Canglei Academy and Bingyang Academy had already set up an ambush, just waiting for him to walk into their trap.

"It's no use, the castle is in chaos."

Wearing a golden Azure Thunder Academy uniform, earrings, and spiky hair, the man laughed at the panting Jonouchi Ranpo, "If it were your captain, perhaps he could hold his own against us for a few more rounds. But even he has no chance against both of us at the same time. Surrender, and you'll suffer less."

"Keep dreaming! I'm not giving up!"

Without a second thought, Jonouchi Ranpo rejected the suggestion from the men of the Azure Thunder Team.

He waved his hand and said, "Don't think I'm easily intimidated. The duel isn't over yet, and it's still hard to say who will emerge victorious!"

"You won't cry until you see the coffin."

The ice-blue-haired youth standing by and watching the battle shook his head: "Just give him the final blow, Kamui. It shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"

"No problem, Kamui-kun. We'll finish him off right away..."

Shenwei responded softly and raised his hand as if to make a move.

But before that, a somewhat panicked voice suddenly came through his earphones.

"It's bad, Captain! Someone's broken in! It's the Star Vanguard team!"

"what?"

Kamui paused, then heard his teammates who were hunting with Hyoyo nearby shout again: "Wait, there are others! Those seem to be people from Kiyosumi High School... We can't stop them, someone's coming this way, Koko, Captain!"

It wasn't just the Azure Thunder team shouting; the man next to Azure Blue also clearly received the message from his teammate.

He frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Kamui.

"You've arrived so quickly?"

"I thought I could prepare for a longer period of time."

The eye contact lasted only a few seconds, and then a series of hurried footsteps came from afar.

"Was this the area where I felt that fluctuation just now?"

"Huh? That sound is..."

Ranpo turned around in surprise and saw a friend he had only recently become acquainted with.

"You Xi? What brings you here?"

"So it really is Jonouchi who's dueling."

Ranpo Jounouchi was quite surprised, but Yuki, who had already sensed the fluctuations in Feel, wasn't too surprised.

The green-haired girl walking with him looked at the two who were at odds with Jonouchi Ranpo.

"The captains of the Ice Ocean Team, Cang Lan, and the captain of the Azure Thunder Team, Shen Wei, have really hit the jackpot this time. Two captains teaming up against a mere grunt—it's truly a sight to behold!"

"Hey! Who are you calling a henchman, you green-haired girl!"

Wendy had barely uttered her thoughts when she was met with a barrage of angry curses from Ranpo Jounouchi.

The girl shrank her neck: "Oh, I'm sorry, I accidentally blurted out what was on my mind. I'm so sorry."

"No, Miss Wendy, I think you should stop talking."

Seeing that Ranpo was about to explode with anger, Yu Xi quickly spoke up to persuade him.

Wendy is great in every way, but unfortunately she has a mouth, which makes her somewhat of a disappointment.

At the same time, the two captains of Cang Lei and Bing Yang also struck up a conversation with You Xi and his companion.

"You've got it wrong, Wendy. We didn't mean to gang up on us. Didn't you see we were having one-on-one duels with Jonouchi?"

"That's what they say, but it's really just a plan that if one person crashes, another person will take over and pick up the scraps."

Wendy bluntly exposed Kamui and Azure's intentions.