NOVEL NEXT Chapter 118: DSMW [118]
"Descend, O phantom thunderlight that slaughters all living beings of the earth! — Special Summon, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!"
[Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder] Level 10│LIGHT│Thunder│4000 ATK
Amid the bombardment of phantom thunder, a golden skeletal pair of wings unfurled with a roar. So massive it nearly filled half the Shadow Game barrier, Hamon looked down upon the tiny beings at its feet.
"Using 3 Spell Cards as tribute to summon a monster with 4000 Attack and Defense on the first turn?"
Just a moment ago, Aisha had been questioning her opponent's strange face-down setup—now, she staggered back a step, startled by Hamon's thunderous arrival.
"This is the monster that defeated Irena-senpai? Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder?"
It wasn't even close to the same level.
Forget about the low-star monsters dueling it out in Fusion Academy's first-year matches.
Even second-year elites like Deion Kaiser of the royal family hadn't managed to field a 4000 ATK monster on the first turn so fast.
"I Set 1 card and end my turn."
Even though it couldn't attack on the first turn, the Millennium Ring remained fully confident, summoning Hamon in Attack Position for all to see. It was a blatant show of power to both Aisha and Miles, as if saying: With your current strength, there's no way you can break through Hamon.
With the Millennium Ring's turn over, Aisha's Spirit Eyes lit up in response.
So this uneven match would proceed with the Millennium Ring going first, followed by Aisha, then the Ring again, and finally Miles.
Though technically a 1v2 Duel, the Millennium Ring didn't suffer from any turn order disadvantage. The only real edge Aisha and Miles held was starting with five more cards in hand.
"It's the real Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder. Irena, since you've dueled against it, you remember what its effect is, right?"
A 4000 ATK on turn one was already daunting, but Miles wasn't naive enough to think the monster that took down Irena only had good base stats.
"Yeah, it has a really nasty effect, too."
Irena recalled the Duel in her dream: she had tried to counter Hamon's attack with Magic Cylinder, confident in her victory—only to suffer defeat instead.
"Hamon seems to be unaffected by the effects of Trap Cards."
"So it's like a God Card, immune to Traps?"
Miles frowned deeply. This Hamon mirrored the strongest version ever featured in the anime: easy summoning conditions and immunity to Traps.
"It has another effect!" Irena continued.
"When it destroys an opponent's monster, it inflicts 1000 points of damage. That means even if you keep defending, getting four of your monsters destroyed by Hamon will still cost you all your Life Points."
This effect was critical. Miles repeated Irena's description word for word to Aisha.
If Aisha stuck to the defensive tactics Miles often used, she'd be walking right into Hamon's win condition.
"My turn! Draw!"
She drew her card to begin the turn—and now, the pressure was on Aisha.
"Can you do it, Aisha? Can you counter Hamon's destructive force?"
"Watch me, Miles! Even in places you can't see, I've been growing stronger!"
"Places I can't see?"
As her turn officially began, Aisha tossed out a Spell Card.
"Activate Spell Card: Unexpected Dai!"
"Using this Spell's effect, I Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Normal Monster from my Deck since I control no monsters."
Sliding her fingers across the Deck, she pulled out that familiar tofu block and slapped it down in Defense Position.
"Come forth! I Special Summon in Defense Position—Mokey Mokey!"
[Mokey Mokey] Level 1│LIGHT│Fairy│100 DEF
Floating in Defense Position on Aisha's field, Mokey Mokey was so weak that Hamon probably hadn't even noticed its existence beneath him.
"Not done yet! I also Summon another Mokey Mokey from my hand in Defense Position!"
[Mokey Mokey] DEF: 100
Two tofu blocks summoned on turn one—even the Millennium Ring couldn't help but laugh at such a ridiculous opening.
"Hahaha! Still obsessed with junk monsters, Aisha Carlos? Two Mokey Mokeys? You're just feeding Hamon its next meal!"
Hamon inflicts 1000 damage for each monster it destroys.
So even though both Mokey Mokeys were in Defense Position, destroying them would still chop Aisha and Miles's LP in half.
"No, this next part is my new way of fighting—proof that I've grown after facing the darkness!"
Her eyes held a resolve never seen before. Aisha slid her fingers over the two cards and stacked the Mokey Mokeys together.
At that moment, light erupted.
"That light… an Xyz Summon?" The white-haired loli suspended above the Millennium Ring was stunned. "Aisha Carlos, a student of Fusion Academy, using an Xyz Summon?!"
"I Overlay my two Level 1 Mokey Mokeys! Rank 1 Xyz Summon—Slacker Magician!"
[Slacker Magician] Rank 1│LIGHT│Spellcaster / Xyz / Effect│2100 DEF
[2 Level 1 monsters]
The girl summoned by overlaying two Mokey Mokeys bore a lethargic expression just like theirs. Even facing Hamon, she looked completely indifferent.
"A Rank 1 Xyz Monster with 2100 Defense? That's your trump card? So lame."
Still dismissed as trash, even after an Xyz Summon, the white-haired loli glared down at Aisha with open disdain.
"I Set one card and end my turn."
According to the 1v2 Duel rules, once Aisha ended her turn, the Millennium Ring regained control.
"My turn! Draw!"
Drawing to start the turn, Hamon raised its head with a roar, as if it had waited long enough.
Its terrifying appearance and even more terrifying aura made it seem like this Sacred Beast planned to devour all spirits.
"Don't be impatient, Hamon. Once I'm ready, you can rip them apart!"
The white-haired girl pointed to her Set card from last turn and slowly lifted it.
As her arm moved, the Set card flipped up.
"Quick-Play Spell: Enemy Controller!"
The giant controller that materialized in front of her looked wildly out of place in this fantasy world of swords and magic.
"Now, how should I use this thing..."
Stroking her chin with mock thought, a mischievous grin crept onto the white-haired loli's lips.
Then, with a loud slap of her tiny hand, she mashed the massive control pad.
"Left ← Right → Left ← Right → A B A B! I use Enemy Controller to switch your Slacker Magician to Attack Position!"
Irena gasped, "Oh no! If it gets switched to Attack, it only has 300 Attack!"
With a 3700 point difference against Hamon, plus Hamon's 1000 damage effect, that would mean instant defeat.
Miles wouldn't even get a chance to act.
The white-haired loli laughed gleefully, "Hahaha! You're just dead weight! Without your spirit guardian, there's no way you can pull off a comeback, Aisha Carlos!"
"I refuse!" Aisha retorted firmly.
"Refuse what, exactly?"
"I refuse the effect of Enemy Controller! Go, Slacker Magician!"
Following Aisha's command, the indifferent Xyz girl walked up to the controller and casually tossed it aside.
"What?" The white-haired loli froze.
"By detaching 1 Xyz Material, Slacker Magician can negate any card effect that targets her—I detach one Mokey Mokey to negate and destroy Enemy Controller!"
"A trash monster with targeting immunity?!"
The cute Xyz girl made it clear—she would stay home forever and not take any targets.
"In that case, I'll crush her with Sacred Beast thunder!"
Frustrated by her failed control attempt, the Millennium Ring declared the Battle Phase.
"Lightning of the Lost Paradise!"
Thunder, not unlike Slifer the Sky Dragon's roared down. Hamon's strike blew apart the ground as it blasted toward Aisha's monster.
But once the excessive visual effects faded, the monster remained on Aisha's field. Only her blue hair had curled slightly from the shock.
"Impossible! How is that trash monster still standing?!"
"That 'trash' monster withstood a Sacred Beast assault this turn," Aisha said coolly, flashing her card. "Slacker Magician can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!"
"That was amazing, Aisha!" Miles cheered.
Not only had she baited out Enemy Controller, she had also survived Hamon's strike and avoided the 1000-point damage.
Irena added, "Aisha really has gotten stronger."
If all the previous Duels had been Miles fighting in her stead, then this was Aisha Carlos showing she could stand on her own.
"I did my best, too, Miles! So I wouldn't drag you down!"
And for Aisha, nothing made her happier than one word of praise from Miles.
"Tch, how annoying! I end my turn!"
A monster summoned from two Mokey Mokeys had stopped Hamon's charge. The white-haired loli's face contorted further.
"Now it's my turn—no, our turn!"
Irena declared, "Time for payback! Let them see our pride, Miles!"
"My turn! Draw!"
The Duel felt entirely different now. With Irena's powerful second-year Deck, Miles could truly feel the gap born of time—No calculation or strategy could bridge that divide.
A full year's worth of Summons and Spell study separated first-years and second-years.
Even the completion level of their Decks was leagues apart.
"Activate Ritual Spell: Advanced Ritual Art!"
[Send Normal Monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard whose total Levels equal the Ritual Monster's; Ritual Summon 1 Ritual Monster from your hand.]
A Ritual Spell that could use Deck monsters as tribute was rare enough to be ranked B-class.
Such luxury was unimaginable to first-years who still struggled to craft Polymerization.
"I send Level 7 Dark Magician from the Deck to the Graveyard as tribute to Ritual Summon—Magician of Chaos!"
[Magician of Chaos] Level 7│DARK│Spellcaster│2500 ATK
Empowered by a chaotic Ritual, a new form of Dark Magician descended in light woven of light and shadow.
The white-haired loli sneered, "2500 ATK? Even as a Ritual Monster, that's no better than Dark Magician. That power is useless against Hamon!"
"Time to wipe that smirk off your face—with this card! Activate Spell Card: Polymerization!"
After the Ritual, Miles now initiated a Fusion Summon.
Irena's hybrid Deck gave Miles a whole new taste of combat, far beyond the brute-force monster brawls of first-year Duels.
Multiple Special Summons to dominate the field.
"Aisha, I'll be borrowing your monster too!"
"Use it all you want, Miles! You can even take me with it if you want (murmurs)!"
He tossed the Fusion Materials from his hand into the swirling Fusion effects overhead, including Slacker Magician on Aisha's field.
"I fuse Dark Magician Girl from my hand and Slacker Magician on the field! Fusion Summon—The Dark Magicians!"
...
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