Judai Yuki was startled. "What is this?"
"The barrier of a Shadow Duel," Yugen Do said. "In this Duel, the loser's soul will be taken."
Because he had already been told that Duels here could cost lives, Judai Yuki accepted it quickly. He did not speak, but his expression grew more serious.
"The loser's soul will become nourishment for the god," Shell said. "I Summon Guardian of Nephthys in Attack Position."
A girl in golden armor appeared, holding a heavy sword. The mark of Orichalcos surfaced on her forehead.
Guardian of Nephthys, ATK 1400.
Yugen raised a brow. A Nephthys Deck after all.
"Guardian of Nephthys activates its effect," Shell continued. "I destroy one card in my hand, then Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Nephthys monster from my hand."
A card in his hand burned away. Another dark skinned girl wearing a golden helm appeared, but the six pointed sigil also marked her forehead.
Nephthys Guide, ATK 600.
"Nephthys Guide activates," Shell said, raising his arm. "By tributing this card and one other monster I control, I Special Summon Nephthys the Preserver from my hand or Deck!"
He offered both monsters as tribute.
"Ancient power that slumbers in fire, awaken and bring victory to my hand. Nephthys the Preserver, Summon!"
The dark sky turned red as if set ablaze. From the flames descended a radiant phoenix, its golden body wrapped in blazing light. Its wings spread wide, leaving trails of fire across the air.
Nephthys the Preserver, ATK 2400.
Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, Summon!
Even Yugen could tell that the Phoenix God brought out this time carried only a limited surge of power. Most of it came from the energy Shell had just absorbed from the statue. The card itself still had no Spirit residing within it.
In this world, as long as they were not fake or copied, all Duel Monsters cards possessed a certain supernatural quality even without a Spirit. The monsters Summon by a Duelist were like projections compared to the true Spirit. In some sense, they could be seen as avatars.
If a Duelist poured enough emotion into a card, it could even attract a real Spirit to reside within that Card. An ordinary card might one day become a true Spirit card.
"As long as The Seal of Orichalcos remains on the field, all my monsters gain 500 ATK," Shell said. "So Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys increases."
Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, ATK 2400 ? ATK 2900
Judai Yuki stared at the green sigil glowing on the forehead of the Phoenix God and frowned. "Can't you feel it? Your monster is crying out."
"Hear it or not, what does it change?" Shell replied coldly. "A Duelist only needs to think about victory. Trust only leads to betrayal. In the end, a Duelist can rely only on himself."
"That's not true."
Judai Yuki tried to argue, but Shell cut him off. "Defeat me first. I activate the Spell Card Hope of Nephthys.
I choose one Nephthys card on my field and one card on yours and destroy them. I destroy Nephthys the Preserver and your Elemental HERO Mudballman."
Flames burst from the Phoenix God and formed a blazing firebird that crashed into Elemental HERO Mudballman. Both the burning phoenix and the sturdy Elemental HERO were reduced to ash.
The shockwave of fire swept forward. Judai Yuki raised his arm to shield his face. "You destroyed your own monster just to take it down with you?"
"I set one card and end my turn," Shell said.
"My Turn!, Card Draw." Yugen drew calmly. "I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon in my hand. I discard it and add up to two Thunder Dragon from my Deck to my hand."
After adding two cards, he immediately played another. "I activate Spell Card Card Destruction. Both players discard their hands, then draw the same number of cards from their Deck."
Hands were replaced, and a large amount of Light and Dark resources quickly filled the Graveyard. Energy gathered around him as he continued.
"I banish the Dark Apprentice Magician and the Light Thunder Dragon from my Graveyard. The wizard who commands Light and Darkness descends now. Chaos Sorcerer, Summon!"
Beams of light and shadow shot upward and twisted together inside a vortex. Chaotic energy exploded, shaping itself into a robed figure as the sorcerer descended.
Chaos Sorcerer, ATK 2300
"Chaos power, hm? A student of Duel Academy with such a card," Shell said. "Then I activate my set Trap Card, Torrential Tribute. When a monster is Summoned, destroy all monsters on the field."
The Trap Card flipped open and a massive blue torrent surged forward. Chaos Sorcerer shattered into fragments of light the moment it appeared.
"Yugen's Chaos Sorcerer was destroyed instantly," Judai Yuki exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter," Yugen Do said. "I use the effect of Tricky in my hand. By discarding one card, I can Special Summon it."
He sent a card to the Graveyard, and a summoning circle appeared. A mage with a question mark above his head emerged.
Tricky, ATK 2000
"The card I just discarded to the Graveyard was the Quick-Play Spell Silence Magic Burst." Yugen retrieved the Spell Card that slid back out. "By banishing Silence Magic Burst, I add True Silent Magician from my Deck to my hand."
"True Silent Magician can be Special Summoned by tributing a Spellcaster-Type monster on the field," Yugen Do said. "I tribute Tricky.
The wings of hope entrusted to Silence, the magician of light, appear now. True Silent Magician, Summon!"
Tricky dissolved into light, and a white robed mage stepped out of a glowing circle, staff spinning lightly in her hand.
True Silent Magician, ATK 1000
"Silent Magician gains ATK equal to my hand size times 500," Yugen Do said. "I have three cards, so it gains 1500."
True Silent Magician, ATK 1000 ? ATK 2500
"Direct attack with Silent Magician. Silence Magic Burst!"
A sphere of light formed at the tip of her staff and shot forward, exploding against Shell. The swordsman of Doma staggered back half a step but remained standing under the blast.
Shell LP 8000 ? LP 5500
"Nice! That's heavy damage!" Judai Yuki cheered.
"Not bad." Shell rolled his neck once.
Yugen drew three more cards and set them all face down. "I end my turn."
"You are not ordinary students," Shell said, narrowing his eyes. "Then I will be more serious. My Turn!, Card Draw.
At the start of my Standby Phase, the Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys destroyed last turn activates. During my next Standby Phase after being destroyed by effect and sent to the Graveyard, it Special Summons itself."
He raised his arm.
"The phoenix will be reborn and burn everything with its flames. Phoenix God of Nephthys, revive!"
A pillar of fire shot into the sky as golden wings spread wide. Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys returned in blazing light.
Nephthys the Preserver, ATK 2400 ? ATK 2900
"And when it is Special Summoned by its own effect, it destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the field," Shell shouted.
The Phoenix God cried sharply and unleashed a storm of flames that swept across the entire field.
"That power is incredible," Judai Yuki said. "But won't your own field be destroyed too?"
"The Seal of Orichalcos cannot be negated, and once activated it cannot leave the field by any means," Shell said coldly. "This battle ends only when one side's souls become sacrifices. Only your set cards will be destroyed."
He swept his arm across their field.
"All your set cards, be destroyed!"
Flames engulfed Yugen and Judai Yuki's field. Four set cards flipped up in the blaze. Among them were two Divine Shield - Mirror Force.
Yugen and Judai Yuki glanced at each other.
"Looks like we picked similar cards," Judai Yuki laughed awkwardly.
"Maybe not all of them will be destroyed," Yugen said with a faint smile.
As the flames passed, three of the set cards spun in the air and settled back face down.
"What?" Shell frowned. "Why weren't they destroyed?"
"One of my set cards was the Trap Card Fake Trap," Yugen said, pointing upward. "When an effect would destroy my Trap Cards, I can destroy this instead. My other traps remain."