Chapter 360: A Medical Miracle
Chapter 360: A Medical Miracle
"It's my turn to draw."
Zombie quietly drew a card.
But before he could make his next move—
"I play my face-down card!"
You Xuan waved his hand, revealing his back row.
"Trap Card: 'Mind Shatter'! Declare a card name, and if your opponent has that exact card in their hand, they must discard all copies of it. If they don't have it, I must randomly discard a card from my hand."
He paused, smiling as he looked at his opponent's hand.
"Now, let me see...it's a tough choice, but I'll go with this one."
You Xuan curled his finger.
"Continuous Magic: 'Unity of the Tribe.' That's the one."
The 'Interception Crusader' had bounced 'Unity of the Tribe' back to his hand last turn, so it was only natural that he had it. Zombie stared blankly at the trap You Xuan had flipped, then back at his own hand, as the targeted card began to glow with a golden light, gradually becoming transparent and ethereal before vanishing altogether.
Zombie opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words caught in his throat, and all that escaped was an incoherent "Umm...ahh..."
He seemed a mix of frustration and dejection.
"I recall that 'Unity of the Tribe' was key to your deck's strategy during the league, wasn't it?" You Xuan smiled. "It would've been a headache if you'd managed to activate it again."
In the professional league, Morita's deck focused on fighter-type monsters. While the Blue Lightning T45 and Greatsword β only had attack strengths of 1700 and 1200 respectively, which weren't particularly impressive, with 'Unity of the Tribe,' their attacks could be boosted to 2500 and 2000.
Blue Lightning had an effect that allowed it to summon a token upon destroying an opponent's monster in battle, and Greatsword β had two powerful effects: sending a monster from the deck to the graveyard when it destroyed a monster in battle, and reviving a monster from the graveyard. With sufficient attack boosts and these effects combined, it could quickly gain an overwhelming advantage.
Having two 'Unity of the Tribe' cards on the field at the same time would make the deck even more unstoppable, often leading to a victory within just one or two turns. It was an excellent strategy for both offense and endurance in tournaments.
Of course, the prerequisite was having 'Unity of the Tribe' to provide the initial attack boost.
However, with the one-two punch of being bounced to the hand and then hit by 'Mind Shatter,' it was clear that Zombie's strategy had fallen apart.
Zombie looked aggrieved, but he remained silent, staring blankly at his opponent for a moment before continuing to play quietly.
"I summon Blue Lightning T45."
The blue fighter plane, its engines spewing fire, took to the field once more.
[Blue Lightning T45: ATK 1700]
"Level 8, 'Machine Cannon.' Discard."
He revealed an 8-star 'Machine Cannon' from his hand and sent it to the graveyard. Simultaneously, another card in his hand began to shine with a golden light.
"I summon 'Machine Corps Fortress'!"
Machine Corps Fortress, the versatile mechanical-type monster, could be Special Summoned from the hand or graveyard by discarding mechanical-type monsters whose levels added up to 8 or more.
[Machine Corps Fortress: ATK 2500]
"I change the attack target to UFO Turtle."
[UFO Turtle: ATK 1400]
"Magic card activation!"
Though he still looked dazed, Zombie's moves seemed slightly faster, and his hoarse voice, which sounded like a moan, had risen a few notes.
It was as if something had lit a fire under him.
"Burning Land!"
The bursting flames seemed to claw at the earth, enveloping everything in a furious blaze. Like a colossal dragon, the fire rose and devoured every inch of land, turning the entire catapult zone into a sea of fire, and the two massive catapult cars were also incinerated and dismantled by the flames.
The continuous magic card 'Burning Land' destroyed all field spell cards when activated.
"The catapult zone is destroyed!"
Zombie seemed a bit excited.
Now, You Xuan couldn't replace the destroyed Rock-Type monsters with others from his deck.
Zombie entered the battle phase: "Blue Lightning, attack the Rock Soldier!"
Blue Lightning's tail flame sprayed upward as it took to the air, and a laser beam shot toward the Rock Soldier.
But its beam failed to hit the intended target.
Blocking the beam's path was the sudden, imposing figure of the colossal golden sarcophagus!
Zombie: "!!?"
He had clearly targeted the Rock Soldier, so how did it become the golden sarcophagus again?
"Haha, this time it's not 'Guardian Sphinx,' but a trap card I activated.
Continuous Trap: 'Traveler's Trial.'"
You Xuan grinned at Zombie.
"As a league player, you must have broad knowledge. So, you've probably heard of it, right? The legend of the Sphinx, the prototype of the Guardian Sphinx.
The Sphinx would ask travelers to answer a riddle: what walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?"
Zombie: "..."
"You haven't heard of it? Or do you not understand?"
You Xuan sounded a bit disappointed.
"Or is your intelligence limited only to dueling? Never mind, then." He pointed to the trap in his back row. "Traveler's Trial activates when an opponent's monster declares an attack.
The opponent has to guess whether the card I'm holding is a Magic, Trap, or Monster Card. If they guess correctly, the attack continues.
But if they guess wrong, the attacking monster returns to the owner's hand."
You Xuan showed Zombie the back of one of his cards and smiled.
"Now, it's your turn, traveler. Guess—is this card a Magic, Trap, or Monster Card?"
Zombie stared at the card for a long while, as if trying to see through it.
"Ma...Magic Card," he said.
"Is that so?
The majestic Sphinx with its fiery red eyes flashed, and a golden light enveloped the fighter plane, sending it back to its owner's hand.
Once again, the monster was bounced back to the hand.
Zombie: "..."
Left with no choice, Zombie solemnly continued, "UFO Turtle, Rock Soldier. Attack!"
"And once again, 'Traveler's Trial' is triggered. When your monster attacks, guess the type of card I'm holding. If you guess wrong, your monster goes back to your hand."
Zombie: "!!!"
His eyes, encircled by dark rings, widened in disbelief.
"What's the matter? You look so surprised?" You Xuan smiled. "'Traveler's Trial' is a continuous trap. It doesn't say once per turn. It triggers every time you attack. Isn't that only natural?"
Zombie: "..."
With every attack, a riddle had to be guessed, and if the guess was wrong, the attacking monster would be bounced back to the hand, no matter how many times one attacked in a turn.
If Mr. Zombie was still lucid, he would probably be cursing his luck right now—
—What the hell kind of card is that?!
By the way, this card made its anime debut when it was played by the game's grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou, during the KC tournament against Jouji. Even back then, it almost broke Jouji's resolve.
One could only conclude that Grandpa Mutou's dueling style was vastly different from Atem's, and its origins seemed to be traceable, possibly indicating a lineage of dueling skills.
"Come now, come now, take a guess."
You Xuan smiled and gestured with the card in his hand.
Zombie hesitated for a long while.
". . . Monster card."
"Oh ho ho, what a pity, you've guessed wrong again."
You Xuan revealed the card.
"This time, it's the magic card 'Planet Modification.' So, I'm sorry, but 'UFO Turtle' also returns to your hand."
The Sphinx stood proudly as the golden light enveloped the UFO Turtle, sending it back to Zombie's hand.
Zombie: "..."
Although his expression remained dull, an imaginary "well" seemed to form on his forehead.
"Machine Corps Fortress, attack."
Zombie raised his trembling hand and pointed to You Xuan's face-down monster.
"Attack the Sphinx."
It was clear, even to Zombie's simple mind, that while the Rock Soldier had an attacking stance, taking it down wouldn't deplete much of You Xuan's life points, as his life values were still abundant.
However, if he didn't get rid of that damn Sphinx, it would just flip back over next turn and bounce all his monsters back to his hand.
That would truly be the end of him.
"So, once again, 'Traveler's Trial' is triggered."
You Xuan shuffled his hand, drew a card, and presented it to Zombie.
Zombie hesitated for a long moment.
". . . Monster card."
"Oh? You guess monster again?"
You Xuan nodded and revealed the card.
"Good, good! You've guessed right this time. It is indeed a monster card, 'Giga-Tech Wolf.' Therefore, this attack goes through."
[Machine Corps Fortress: ATK 2500]
[Guardian Sphinx: DEF 2400]
The Machine Corps Fortress' gunfire pierced through the Sphinx's body, shattering the colossal human-faced statue into pieces that rained down on the field.
"Sphinx. Destroyed!"
Perhaps it was because taking down the Sphinx was so challenging, but Zombie actually seemed a little excited.
"Not bad, not bad. You managed to take down the Sphinx. Good effort. But..."
You Xuan snapped his fingers.
"...I activate my face-down Trap Card, 'Time Machine.' This turn, when a monster is destroyed by battle, it is Special Summoned to the field in the same battle position.
I Special Summon 'Guardian Sphinx' from my Graveyard."
[Guardian Sphinx: DEF 2400]
Zombie: "..."
It was destroyed, but not completely.
"Now, it's my turn. Draw!"
You Xuan waved his hand.
"The effect of 'Guardian Sphinx' allows me to change it to face-down Defense Position once per turn. I set 'Guardian Sphinx.'"
The Sphinx transformed into a face-down Defense Position monster.
"Since 'Guardian Sphinx' wasn't summoned this turn, I can, of course, perform an Flip Summon this turn.
I Flip Summon 'Guardian Sphinx!'"
[Guardian Sphinx: ATK 1700]
"When 'Guardian Sphinx' is successfully Flip Summoned, all face-up monsters your opponent controls are returned to the owner's hand."
You Xuan smiled and pointed to his opponent's field.
"So, 'Machine Corps Fortress' also returns to your hand."
The massive and heavy fortress transformed into a golden light and followed the path of its comrades, returning to Zombie's hand.
Zombie's eyes widened to their limit as he glared at You Xuan for a long moment.
Then, gritting his teeth, he muttered through his unclear speech, "You...damn..."
"Oh ho, you can speak words other than those related to the duel? What a pleasant surprise!" You Xuan exclaimed in delight.
It was indeed a medical miracle.
"The 'Giga-Tech Wolf' in my hand allows me to banish an Earth Attribute monster from my Graveyard and Special Summon it.
I banish 'Interception Crusader' from my Graveyard and Special Summon 'Giga-Tech Wolf.'"
[Giga-Tech Wolf: ATK 1900]
"Let's battle!" You Xuan declared. "'Giga-Tech Wolf,' 'Guardian Sphinx,' and 'Rock Soldier,' direct attack!"
The three massive rock monsters took turns stepping forward, and the materialized, tangible damage knocked Zombie to the ground, a black stream of blood spraying from his mouth and landing far away.
[Duel Zombie: LP 4000 → LP 0]
(End of Chapter)
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