"Oh? You're not using your favorite muscle monsters anymore?" Yuta was slightly taken aback when he saw Hoshino summon Kiyohime.
"What? My favorite muscle monsters?" Hoshino, recalling an unpleasant memory, shook her head hard.
"I really have no idea what you're talking about! I set two cards face-down." Denying that memory, Hoshino inserted two cards into the Spell and Trap Zone of her Duel Disk.
In response to Hoshino's actions, the images of two face-down cards appeared at her feet.
"Turn ends!"
Hoshino's remaining hand: 3 cards. 2 set cards.
"Heh heh, compared to muscle monsters, these monsters suit you much better, Hoshino!" Yuta, drawing a card from his Duel Disk, glanced at Kiyohime on the field.
"It doesn't matter if you try to compliment me, my heart already belongs to Master!" Kiyohime snapped back, not at all flattered.
"Huh?! Did... did that monster just talk to me?!" Yuta, who was in the middle of his move, was so startled that he almost dropped the card he'd just drawn.
"Huh?" Hoshino was equally surprised. "You can hear the Spirit Monsters speak?"
"Of course, I'm not deaf! It was pretty obvious!" Yuta's expression shifted from "this monster is cute" to "this monster is creepy" as he stared at Kiyohime.
"What in the world..." Hoshino was just as shocked as Yuta. So far, only those who possessed Millennium Items, like Yugi and Pegasus, could hear the Spirits of the Monsters.
And Yuta clearly didn't seem like someone who wielded that kind of power, so Hoshino could only think of one possible explanation.
"Is this something Kaiba did with these special Duel Disks?" During her duel with Kaiba in front of the castle, after he disabled the Duel Platform's systems, Kaiba was still able to perfectly recreate the Spirits, so this was the only explanation Hoshino could come up with.
"So that's why he sent me this special Duel Disk..."
Although she didn't know what Kaiba's intentions were, from the looks of it, the conversations between the Spirits were no longer going to stay private.
"Damn it!" She realized she wouldn't be able to flirt with the Spirits so openly anymore.
"Talking monsters don't affect the duel! Come on, Yuta!" Hoshino, trying to act tough, urged Yuta to move on.
"Oh! Right, my turn..." Snapped out of his bewilderment, Yuta regained his composure.
"Hoshino, you've gotten stronger, but you're not the only one who's grown!"
Regaining his confidence, Yuta drew a monster card and slapped it onto the field. "I summon Great White in Attack Position!"
[Great White ★★★★ (4 stars)][WATER][Fish][ATK 1600/DEF 800]
A bulky, massive shark appeared, floating in mid-air due to the lack of water.
And as for why it was "bulky," this shark actually had a pair of thick, muscular arms.
"Was this monster always this disgusting?"
The first time Hoshino had dueled Yuta, there was a field spell, Umi, in effect, so most of Great White's body was hidden underwater, leaving only its head visible, which explained why she hadn't noticed how strange it looked.
"Disgusting...?" Yuta, as if his worldview had been shattered, took a step back. "How can you say that? This ocean monster, a symbol of manliness, is disgusting? Hoshino, don't tell me you don't like muscular men anymore?"
"I never liked them in the first place!" Hoshino retorted loudly, clearly annoyed.
"I'll change your mind! I discard [Warrior of Atlantis] from my hand and activate its effect!" Yuta, now fully fired up, discarded a monster from his hand into the graveyard slot of his Duel Disk.
[Warrior of Atlantis Effect: You can discard this card to add 1 [A Legendary Ocean] from your Deck to your hand.]
"Next, I activate the field spell card [A Legendary Ocean] that I just added to my hand!"
Yuta placed the card into the extended Field Spell Zone of his Duel Disk.
"Behold, Hoshino! My newfound power—the legendary city in the ocean, the magnificent Atlantis!"
[A Legendary Ocean Field Spell Effect: (This card's is always treated as "Umi.") ①: WATER monsters on the field gain 200 ATK/DEF. ②: The Level of WATER monsters in the hand and on the field is reduced by 1.]
The Field Spell's data, processed by the satellite supercomputer, was perfectly projected around Hoshino and Yuta. In an instant, the area within a ten-meter radius of the two was swallowed by water, and the grand underwater city of Atlantis rose out of nowhere in the middle of the street.
As Hoshino was suddenly submerged in the waters of Atlantis, for a moment she felt a suffocating sensation but quickly realized it was just a hologram.
Such a massive field change naturally drew the attention of passersby.
"Whoa, what a field spell! What's that?"
"Isn't that Yuta, the guy who won the regional championship back in the day? No wonder he's got such an impressive Field Spell."
"His opponent is done for. She'll probably be the first to get eliminated."
"Wait, do you know who his opponent is? Look at her closely..."
"That's the Duel King!"
"No way! I can't believe two such strong duelists are going at it right from the start."
"Forget it, I'm not dueling. I'm watching this duel!"
"Heh heh, see that, Hoshino? The crowd's already in awe of my manly ocean spirit!" Standing in front of the grand palace of Atlantis, Yuta confidently pointed ahead.
"Once I show you the true power of the Legendary Ocean, you'll see me in a whole new light! Great White, attack the opposing monster!"
[Great White ATK 1600 → 1800]
Thriving in the water, Great White moved swiftly through the waters of Atlantis.
"Shark Bite!" Despite having a pair of bulky, muscular arms, Great White still attacked with its teeth. "Prepare to be destroyed by Great White!"
"I refuse! I already told you it's disgusting!" Hoshino, discarding a monster from her hand, solemnly rejected Yuta's attack. "I activate Kiyohime's special ability!"
[You can activate this effect by discarding one [Heroic Spirit] monster from your hand. Until the end of the turn, this card's ATK and DEF increase by half of the discarded monster's ATK and DEF values. This effect can also be activated during your opponent's turn.]
"I discarded the monster card, [Heroic Spirit – Okita Sōji], so Kiyohime's attack power increases by half of Okita's!"
[Heroic Spirit – Kiyohime ATK 800 → 2050]
"Oh no… Kiyohime's body is getting all heated up. Master, you'll have to take responsibility for this!" Kiyohime said, covering her chest with a bashful expression.
Deep blue flames started burning in the water, unhindered.
"Transform into the Dragon of Flames and soar, Kiyohime!"
The blue dragon, burning within the water, instantly turned the tables and effortlessly defeated the Great White.
"Tenshin Kashō Zanmai!!!"
[Great White] destroyed
[Kajiki Yuta LP 4000 → 3750]
"How did she do that? It seems like the Duel King didn't even flip her face-down card and still managed to counterattack."
"Is fire really burning underwater? That's incredible."
"Yuta, while I don't dislike a man like you with strong convictions, to be honest, I like cute girls."
After destroying the Great White, Kiyohime returned to her original adorable form. "That's right, that's right, Master prefers someone like me!" she said.
"It's not over yet! A man of the sea like me won't retreat just because of one setback!" Yuta, unfazed, drew a card and placed it into his Duel Disk.
"I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Kajiki Yuta's remaining hand cards: 3, 1 set card.
[Heroic Spirit - Kiyohime ATK 2050 → 800]
"This is bad. Yuta doesn't have a single monster on the field."
"Is there really too much of a gap in power between him and the Duel King?"
"My turn, draw!" Hoshino briefly glanced at her hand but didn't underestimate Yuta like the surrounding spectators.
"Yuta leaving his field empty and setting just one card most likely means he's trying to bait me into a trap."
"But as the great detective Holmes said in life, traps are made to be sprung! Leaving that trap alone is a constant threat!"
"I summon the monster card! [Heroic Spirit - Jekyll] in Attack Position!" Hoshino placed the carefully selected card into the Duel Disk, and a new monster materialized on her field.
[Heroic Spirit - Jekyll★★★★][LIGHT][Warrior/Effect][ATK 1350/DEF 800]
"In this situation, for Master to summon me... it seems you're a little wary of the face-down card," said Jekyll, who, upon materializing, immediately saw through Hoshino's mindset.
"Just when you summoned a monster, I activate my set trap card!" As expected, Yuta's face-down card was indeed a trap designed to resist this turn's attack.
Yuta pressed the activation button on his Duel Disk, and the image of the set card appeared from the ground.
"Trap card, [Torrential Tribute]!"
[Torrential Tribute Trap Card Effect: When a monster(s) is Summoned: Destroy all monsters on the field.]
Triggered by the card's effect, the Duel Disk generated a torrent that engulfed the entire field. While the effect was a double-edged sword, Yuta had no monsters, so he wasn't at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, Hoshino's two monsters were swept away by the torrent, resulting in a full wipe on her side.
[Heroic Spirit - Kiyohime] destroyed
[Heroic Spirit - Jekyll] destroyed
"Now the tables have turned, Hoshino." Yuta's tanned face showed a triumphant grin as his plan succeeded.
"Not quite. I activate [Heroic Spirit - Jekyll]'s special effect!" Hoshino raised the destroyed monster card, showing it to Yuta.
[When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, during your next Standby Phase, you can special summon one [Heroic Spirit - Hyde] from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.]
"Thanks to Jekyll's effect, Hyde will be special summoned during my next turn!"
Hoshino's remaining hand cards: 2 hand card, 2 set card.
"As expected from Hoshino. You had a backup plan," Yuta remarked, beginning his turn, "But that doesn't change the fact that your field is empty!"
"My turn, draw!"
Seeing the card he had just drawn, Yuta's smile grew wider. "Hoshino, let me show you my ace card!"
"Because of the effect of the Field Spell Card A Legendary Ocean, the levels of Water attribute monsters in both players' hands are reduced by 1."
"A level-reducing effect? That means…" Hoshino, seeing this card's effect for the first time, widened her eyes.
"That's right! This means that a 5-star monster can now be summoned without a tribute!" Before Hoshino could fully comprehend, Yuta placed a newly drawn monster onto the Duel Disk.
"I summon the 5-star Water attribute monster! Come forth, [The Legendary Fisherman]!"
[The Legendary Fisherman★★★★★ (5 stars)][WATER][Warrior/Effect][ATK1850/DEF 1600]
[While "Umi" is on the field, this card is unaffected by Spell effects.]
"Even though its attack power isn't very high, it has resistance to Spell Cards, huh?" Hoshino said, eyeing the Fisherman, who had materialized in the water. "Since it's unaffected by Spell Card effects, even the attack boost from the Field Spell doesn't apply, right?"
"But that won't stop me from launching a direct attack this turn! Go, Legendary Fisherman!"
The Fisherman, swimming through the water, gathered a torrent into his spear and hurled it with all his might at Hoshino. "Tidal Spear!"
"I'm not just going to stand here and take a hit without a fight. After all, I'm the Duel King; I have a reputation to uphold!" With that, Hoshino pressed the button to activate her face-down card.
"Quick-Play Spell Card, [Heroic Spirit Bond]!"
"It's useless! Spell Cards have no effect on Legendary Fisherman!"
"I never said it was targeting your Fisherman. Why are you so worked up? By discarding one Heroic Spirit monster from my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card's effect!"
[Heroic Spirit Bond Quick-Play Spell Effect: By discarding one [Heroic Spirit] monster from your hand, shuffle your Deck, draw one card, and reveal it to your opponent. If it's a [Heroic Spirit] monster, special summon it to your field.]
"What kind of effect is that…" Yuta, now frowning, couldn't understand why Hoshino was so confident. "Hoshino, are you so sure you'll draw a monster card?"
"Of course not!" Hoshino reshuffled her Deck into the Duel Disk and placed her pale fingers on the top of the deck.
"But this card is called [Heroic Spirit Bond]! As long as I believe in the bond between myself and my Deck, the Deck will respond!"
"Here we go, draw!" Even though it was a normal drawing motion, the sheer intensity behind it felt like a slap to Yuta's face.
"Heh, I've won this bet, Yuta. The card I drew is [Heroic Spirit - Leonidas I]!"
After showing the drawn card, Hoshino immediately placed it horizontally on her Duel Disk. "Thanks to Heroic Spirit Bond's effect, I summon it in Defense Position!"
[Heroic Spirit - Leonidas I★★★(3 stars)][EARTH][Warrior][ATK 1400/DEF 1900]
"Muscles is…" Leonidas, wielding a massive Spartan shield, descended from the heavens, plunging into the water.
Then, wielding his large shield, he forcefully deflected the Tidal Spear hurtling toward Hoshino. "Invincible!"
[Kajiki Yuta LP 3750 → 3700]
"To think you blocked my Legendary Fisherman's attack with such a method... Hoshino, just what kind of duelist are you?" Yuta, finding the scene before him hard to believe, began to truly sense the gap between them.
"And it doesn't end there. Since the monster I discarded earlier was [Heroic Spirit - Marie Antoinette], I can now search my Deck for one [Heroic Spirit] monster and add it to my hand."
[Marie Antoinette Effect: When this card is sent to the Graveyard, you can select one [Heroic Spirit] monster from your Deck or Graveyard and add it to your hand.]
"You no longer have any chance to win, Yuta…"
"To give you some sense of what you're up against, the card I'm adding to my hand is [Heroic Spirit - Heracles]!"
(*****)
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