The Pharaoh and the Wayfarer (Atem/Yami Yugi x Spirit! Reader)

Chapter 19: Dungeon Dice Monsters Pt 2

Ryu-Kishin
10 ATK/10 DEF/10 HP

"The monsters are inside the dice?" Yami asked.
"Along with that, it seems those panels are creating a pathway." (Y/N) noted.
"Astute observation, Rainy. That's one of the key elements to Dungeon Dice Monsters, for, you see, once a die unfolds to dimensionalize a monster, it becomes a dungeon pathway, and with enough of this dungeon pathway, I can construct a route my monsters can use to get to your heart points."
"I see." (Y/N) said. "It's better to prioritize summoning monsters in order to create pathways for monsters to use to attack your opponent."
"Go ahead, Yugi, it's your turn."
"We're with you, Yugi!" Tea shouted.
"Yeah!" Tristan agreed. "All the way, buddy! Long live the King of Games!"
(Y/N) chuckled. "Hail to the king, I suppose."
Yami rolled, however, none of the crests he rolled matched.
Duke was of course smug. "Heh, an obvious outcome. After all, the level of dice you threw were way too high. Sorry. Didn't I mention that different dice had different levels? This is how it works: there are 6 types of crests on the surfaces of these dice: summon, movement, magic, attack, defense, and trap. How often each of these crests appear on a dice depends on that dice's level. The level 2 dice that I just used had 3 summon crests on each, so it was easy for me to roll 2 of 'em. But, the easier a monster is to summon, the weaker it is. Okay, now look carefully at your dice, Yugi."
Yami glanced at the dice and realized what Duke was talking about. "They each have only one summon crest."
"Right, and that makes it much more difficult for you to roll a pair of them. Of course, had you, it'd have been a very strong monster. Still, I'm of the opinion that in the early stages of the game, it's better to go for a low-level sure thing. After all, the odds of summoning a monster with high level dice are slim to none. Sorry, but if all you have are high-level dice at your disposal, you're gonna have a real hard time summoning any monsters."
Yami gritted his teeth as (Y/N) narrowed her eyes at Duke.
"How quaint you failed to mention this mechanic when you were choosing the dice. Though I suppose it's expecting too much of you to play fairly at this point."
"She's right!" Tea agreed. "You should've told Yugi all the rules before the game started!"
Tristan nodded. "This different dice level stuff changes everything. You should start the game fresh!"
"If it were someone else, maybe." Duke said. "But not the King of Games. He'll be okay."
Over the next several turns, Duke was able to consistently summon monsters every turn was Yami was unable to, either due to not rolling enough summoning crests or the crests not matching. Fortunately, the players also had a crest pool for their unused dice rolls. Still, Duke made sure to mock him each and every time, inching closer to his hearts. He also summoned what he called an Item Chest, but refused to elaborate further, making (Y/N) consider unleashing the feral Rain upon him. Eventually, with two squares separating Duke's monsters from the Yami's heart points, he was finally able to roll two level 4 summoning crests, summoning Mighty Mage to the field.

Mighty Mage
30 ATK/20 DEF/50 HP

"And next, I'll access my crest pool dice and use a movement crest to move my mage one space forward so he can launch an attack against the Thirteenth Grave! Lightning Staff!"
Might Mage turned to face the rotting skeleton, firing off a bolt of lightning to disintegrate it.
"All right!" Tristan cheered as (Y/N) smirked.
"The unfortunate fact about Lady Luck is that when you rely on her too much, she's bound to turn sour on you."
Tea stuck her tongue out at the cheerleaders, who had been headache inducing menaces this whole time. "In your face!"
They booed in response as Joey cheered Yugi on.
"Knowing this game and all of its rules may have given you the advantage in assembling your creatures against me, but now I have a monster of my own." Yami declared.
Duke showed no concern whatsoever. "Congratulations on your first monster, Yugi. Just 4 more now, and you'll have as many as I do."
"Or he can just blast the weaker ones you've insisted on flooding the field with." (Y/N) snarked, making everyone on their side snicker.
Duke gave her an annoyed look and rolled, getting yet another monster on to the field.
"I've unlocked the Blast Lizard!"