The scene was just like before for Jonouchi. The two cards held high by Yugi also gleamed with light.
[Cursed of Dragon★★★★★ (5 stars)][Dark][Dragon][ATK2000/DEF1500]
A terrifying dragon driven by evil power, materializing and hovering above everyone's heads.
"Because I activated [Burning Land] at the same time, according to the card's effect, the surrounding forest field is destroyed!" With that, Yugi raised his head and gave an order to the Cursed Dragon in the sky, "Go, [Cursed of Dragon], burn this land with your fury!"
[Burning Land Continuous Spell Card Effect: When this card is activated, all Field Spell Cards on the field are destroyed. Additionally, during each player's Standby Phase, the turn player takes 500 damage.]
Empowered by the spell card, the Cursed Dragon roared and spewed an indescribable amount of flames onto the forest below. In an instant, the flames overturned the entire forest, exposing the giant rats hiding within.
"Now there's nowhere to hide, attack all the giant rats, [Cursed of Dragon]!" Following Yugi's command, the giant rats, having lost their hiding place, were slain one by one by the dragon.
"As expected of Yugi, taking down so many giant rats in one go. But look...," Jonouchi added, his gaze sweeping the landscape, "with the forest gone, we can see the road ahead!"
Looking around, not far from where they stood in the forest, they could barely make out an area resembling a city.
"Let's go to the city to find my brother and gather some information!" Mokuba, eager and impatient, had already started walking towards the city.
"Huh? What's that scattered on the ground?" Hoshino, who had been somewhat reluctant about the giant rat corpses, noticed that with the monsters destroyed, the corpses disappeared just like the holographic images on the duel stage. The ground, which should have been piled with corpses, was now empty except for some golden cards.
[1 Gold Coin]
Picking up a card, Hoshino examined it closely. The card was simple, with just the words [1 Gold Coin] written in glittering letters on the front, while the back was the same as a regular Duel Monster card.
"These look like currency," Yugi observed, noticing the golden cards scattered around. He took one from Hoshino and flipped it over, confirming his suspicion. "Yeah, this must be the currency of this world."
"Hehe, money, huh? Can't leave that lying around!" Greedy Jonouchi, upon hearing that the cards dropped by monsters could be used as money, gleefully bent down to pick them up one by one.
"Defeating monsters to get gold coins, this feels like an RPG~" Hoshino, playing with the gold coin card in her hand, started to enjoy herself, "I wonder if my Heroic Spirit deck can use these too. I'll try it next time we encounter monsters~"
[Hoshino's party obtained 20 gold coins (cards)]
"That little brat sure runs fast." Having spent some time picking up cards, the three were already a distance behind Mokuba, who was hurrying towards the city, but at least he was still within visible range, so they could react quickly if there was danger.
"Let's hurry too, Yugi, Jonouchi~" Hoshino, also interested in the city, was curious about what could be bought with the world's currency. Such exploration was part of the unique fun of an RPG game.
...
"Huh? Has Mokuba stopped?" After chasing for a while, Jonouchi, squinting at Mokuba's tiny figure in the distance, speculated, "He seems to have stopped moving. Is he waiting for us?"
"No, he's not waiting for us!" Yugi, suddenly alarmed, noticed something was wrong, "He's not just standing still, he's running towards us! He must be in danger!"
Seeing Mokuba's approaching figure, the three couldn't help but tense up.
"Yugi, Hoshino, help me! QAQ" Mokuba, with tears in his eyes, ran frantically towards the trio.
But behind him...
[Dragon Zombie★★★ (3 stars)][Dark][Zombie][ATK1600/DEF0]
[Armored Zombie★★★ (3 stars)][Dark][Zombie][ATK1500/DEF0]
[Pumpking the King of Ghosts★★★★★★ (6 stars)][Dark][Zombie][ATK1800/DEF2000]
"There are zombies, zombies!" Shivering, Mokuba cowardly hid behind Hoshino.
"Hahaha, who would've thought that a tough-looking kid like you, would be scared of zombies!" Jonouchi mocked, a smug look on his face, "Although they look a bit tougher than the giant rats, these zombies are still just small fry~"
"In attack mode, I summon [Gearfried the Iron Knight]!" Jonouchi, drawing a monster card from his duel disk without even looking, summoned it.
[Gearfried the Iron Knight★★★★ (4 stars)][Earth][Warrior/Effect][ATK1800/DEF1600]
The masked knight, clad in black armor, stood imposingly on the virtual world ground.
Seeing Jonouchi and Yugi's two rounds of card play, Hoshino finally understood that in this world, decks had no randomness—one could draw whatever card they wanted.
"Go, Iron Knight, attack Dragon Zombie!" Since Gearfried's attack power was 1800, equal to the strongest Pumpking the King of Ghosts, Jonouchi naturally started with the weaker zombie monsters.
With a hefty shield, he accurately smashed the head of the Dragon Zombie.
[Dragon Zombie] destroyed
"Hmph, see that, Mokuba? It's that easy~" Jonouchi boasted after another victory, turning to show off to Mokuba.
"You idiot, those are zombies! They aren't that easy to deal with!" Mokuba, still on edge, remained behind Hoshino, unwilling to come out.
"Be careful, Jonouchi!" Yugi's panicked voice suddenly rang out. The Dragon Zombie, which had been shattered by the Iron Knight, miraculously regenerated.
[Dragon Zombie ATK 1600→1900]
It wasn't just a simple revival; the Dragon Zombie now looked fiercer, with its attack power surpassing Jonouchi's Iron Knight.
"Jonouchi, summon a stronger monster!" Seeing the Dragon Zombie about to pounce on the Iron Knight, Hoshino urged nervously.
"I want to, but it seems I can only summon one monster per turn." Helplessly, with no response from his duel disk or cards, Jonouchi could only watch in despair as his Iron Knight was defeated by the Dragon Zombie.
[Gearfried the Iron Knight] destroyed
[Jonouchi LP 4000→3900]
"What the heck, is this a turn-based RPG?!" At this moment, Hoshino finally grasped the mechanics of this game.
"Yeah, Hoshino, you figured it out too." Yugi, also gradually understanding the RPG mode, tried to analyze, "You can only normal summon one monster at a time, just like in Duel Monsters. If you want to summon again, you must endure an attack from the opponent."
"Although it means enduring an attack, it seems the damage won't directly hit the player..." Hoshino added.
Among the three zombies, only the Dragon Zombie attacked, while the remaining Pumpkin King and Armored Zombie just slowly approached without attacking. "It seems that as long as you summon another monster quickly after being attacked, you won't suffer a lot of direct damage. It's quite a humane rule."
"You two still have time to analyze the rules here!" Jonouchi, flustered, realized that the strongest monster he could normally summon from his deck was [Gearfried the Iron Knight], and after it was defeated, he had no idea what card to play next.
"And the fact that zombie-type monsters revive and increase their attack power is unheard of!" Mokuba, trembling with fear of the zombies, complained angrily.
"It seems this RPG has added some rules that weren't originally in Duel Monsters for the sake of realism." Yugi, frowning, quickly drew a card from his duel disk, "Let me handle this turn, Jonouchi. Let's try purifying these evil creatures with holy light!"
"Summon [Mystical Elf]!"
[Mystical Elf ★★★★ (4 stars)][Light][Spellcaster][ATK800/DEF2000]
A blue-haired elf girl draped in holy light materialized in front of the three zombies as Yugi's card shimmered.
"It seems I guessed correctly." Under the illumination of the Holy Elf's light, the three advancing zombies started to retreat. The berserk aura of the revived Dragon Zombie also faded away.
[Dragon Zombie ATK 1900→1600]
"But the Mystical Elf 's attack power is only 800, not enough to defeat the zombies." Although the appearance of the Mystical Elf temporarily relieved them from the zombie threat, stalling was not a viable solution.
"Yugi, don't you have any stronger light monsters in your deck?" Jonouchi asked anxiously, knowing his warrior-type deck structure couldn't help much.
"This is troublesome, I only have the [Mystical Elf]!" Yugi, whose deck mainly consisted of spellcaster and dark attribute monsters, also had no stronger light monsters to summon.
"Let me try this turn, Yugi!" In this stalemate, Hoshino volunteered, "If saints count as Light monsters, I have a few in my deck."
"That's great, Ho..." Realizing the composition of Hoshino's deck, Yugi, who had been looking at her with joy, suddenly blushed and turned his head away.
Hoshino, lifting her skirt, smoothly retrieved a card from her thigh, her movements full of wild sensuality.
"But Hoshino, you don't have a duel disk. Can you use a card?" Yugi, still not daring to look back, reminded her with his head lowered.
"Even though you have duel disks, you aren't using them!" Having thoroughly understood the game in the past five minutes, Hoshino confidently replied. From her observation, it seemed that Yugi and Jonouchi's duel disks were just for placing decks and not utilizing any other functions; they were simply drawing cards and using them directly.
"In this world, to use a card, you just need the right spirit!" Raising the drawn card with great spirit, Hoshino shouted, "Using [Mystical Elf] as a tribute, [Heroic Spirit – Martha] Install!"
The Mystical Elf, disappearing as a tribute, and the shimmering card like a brilliant star, all resembled previous summonings.
However, things didn't go as smoothly after that. Martha's figure didn't appear before them; instead, the glow from the card in Hoshino's hand intensified, enveloping her body in a spotlight-like dazzling white light.
"Hoshino!" The sudden abnormal situation made the three nervous. Jonouchi almost rushed in, looking helplessly at Hoshino, engulfed in light.
"It's fine, Jonouchi!" Hoshino's enlightened voice came from within the light, "So that's how it is. I wondered why the card-on-thigh setting felt so familiar. It's Phantasm Summon!"
"Huh? A what Summon?"
[Install:Phantasm Summon: By indirectly contacting the Heroic Spirit Throne through a card, the power of a Heroic Spirit of the corresponding class covers the user, transforming them into a Heroic Spirit.](Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya)
"In short! Phantasm Summon, Spirit Origin Martha!" The dispersing light gathered around Hoshino, completely transforming her attire. The pure white saintly dress that should have been on Martha replaced Hoshino's short skirt, and a cross-shaped staff appeared in her hand.
"Isn't this the boss's outfit? Why is it on Hoshino..." The scene was so far beyond Jonouchi's understanding that he was left dumbfounded.
"Explaining it all would take too long. Just trust me—watch!" Too lazy to explain or not knowing how to explain, Hoshino decided to leave the reasons behind, "Now, using the strongest holiness of humanity, let's purify the evil before us!"
[Heroic Spirit – Martha (Hoshino)★★★★★★ (6 stars)][Light][Fairy/Effect][ATK1600/DEF1300]
[Effect ①: When this card is summoned or special summoned, you can activate it. Special summon one [Tarasque Token] (Dragon/Fire/4 stars/ATK/DEF 1500) to your field.]
"Come forth, Tarasque!" Hoshino, holding the staff aloft, called out the name of the terrifying dragon.
"Roar!" A deafening dragon's roar echoed from above, with a giant dragon circling the sky.
[Tarasque Token★★★★ (4 stars)][Fire][Dragon][ATK1500/DEF1500]
"Go, Tarasque! You know what to do!" With a slight smile, Hoshino pointed the staff at the three zombies, "Grant them the holiest purification!"
"Roar!" The circling dragon, following Hoshino's command, dove down, its massive body firmly trapping the three zombies.
"I've always wanted to try this!" Growing more excited, Hoshino threw away her staff and rushed forward. Due to the Phantasm Summon, the power of Martha's spirit origin enveloped Hoshino, allowing her originally weak body to move swiftly.
"Behold the sorrow of a dragon unaware of love, like a star!" Mimicking Martha's tone, Hoshino declared the execution.
"Lord, bear witness to my resolve!"
(*****)
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