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"Nephthys, the Phoenix God, activate!"
Even Yuu Xuan could sense that the Phoenix God summoned, while possessing a certain power fluctuation, derived most of that power from the strength Shel had just absorbed from the statue. The card itself still had no spirit residing within it.
However, in this world, all Duel Monster cards that were not pirated or knock-offs, even without a residing spirit, still possessed a certain supernatural attribute. The relationship between a monster summoned by a duelist from a card and a spirit was roughly like that of a projection to its true form; in a sense, they could also be seen as spirit doppelgangers.
Sometimes, when a duelist poured a lot of emotion into a certain card, it was also possible to naturally attract a true spirit to reside within the card they held. Therefore, it was possible for an originally ordinary card to suddenly transform into a spirit card.
"'Orichalcos Barrier' (Orichalcos Shunoros) is on the field, so all my monsters gain 500 ATK," Shel stated. "Therefore, 'Nephthys, the Phoenix God's' attack increases."
[Nephthys, the Phoenix God, ATK 2400 → ATK 2900]
Jaden stared at the Phoenix God, whose forehead glowed with a green mark. He frowned deeply for a long time, then couldn't help but say, "Don't you feel your monster's agony?"
"What if I hear it, what if I don't?" Shel replied coldly. "A duelist only needs to consider victory. Trusting others only leads to betrayal. In the end, a duelist can only trust themselves."
"That's wrong..."
Jaden wanted to argue further, but Shel had already interrupted him: "You'll have to beat me first. Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Nephthys' Hope'!
"Destroy one 'Nephthys' card on my field and one card on your opponent's field. I destroy 'Nephthys, the Phoenix God' and your 'Elemental HERO Mudballman'!"
Flames erupted from the Phoenix God, transforming into a firebird that soared towards Mudballman. In the scorching inferno, it turned to ashes along with the sturdy Elemental HERO.
The aftershocks of the flames swept through, and Jaden raised his arm to shield his face: "Ugh, he's actually sacrificing his own monster to take mine down with it..."
Shel said, "I set one card. My turn ends."
Yuu Xuan: "Then my turn, draw card.
"The effect of 'Thunder Dragon' in my hand allows me to discard this card from my hand to add up to two 'Thunder Dragon' from my Deck to my hand."
Two cards went to his hand, then he immediately played another card.
"Spell Card 'Card Destruction'. Both players discard all cards from their hands, then draw the same number of cards from their Decks."
Hands replaced, and in doing so, a large amount of Light and Dark resources accumulated in the Graveyard.
"Then I banish the Dark Attribute 'Apprentice Magician' and the Light Attribute 'Thunder Dragon' from my Graveyard! Wizard who wields the power of Light and Darkness, descend now—
"—Chaos Sorcerer, Special Summon!"
Beams of light and darkness flew into the air, intertwining and merging into a vortex. Chaotic energy erupted, and surging magical power gradually materialized into a humanoid form. The Chaos Sorcerer spun and descended.
[Chaos Sorcerer, ATK 2300]
"Chaos power, indeed. Duel Academy students certainly have some incredible cards." Shel said coldly, "Then I activate my Set Card, Trap Card - Torrential Tribute!
"When a monster is Summoned, destroy all monsters on the field!"
The Trap Card flipped, and a brilliant blue torrent surged forth. Chaos Sorcerer, having just appeared, shattered into points of light in the raging current.
Jaden: "Ah, Yuu Xuan's Chaos Sorcerer was destroyed instantly..."
"No matter." Yuu Xuan said, "Then I activate the effect of 'Trick Archfiend' from my hand. I can Special Summon this card by discarding one card."
He sent a card from his hand to the Graveyard. A summoning circle opened, and the wizard with a question mark drawn on his head appeared on the field.
[Trick Archfiend, ATK 2000]
"And the card I just discarded to the Graveyard was the Quick-Play Spell 'Silent Burning'."
Yuu Xuan drew this Spell Card, which had been returned from the Graveyard.
"By banishing 'Silent Burning' from the game, I can add one 'Silent Magician' from my Deck to my hand," Yuu Xuan stated. "Silent Magician can be Special Summoned by Tributing one Spellcaster-Type monster on the field.
"I Tribute the Spellcaster-Type 'Trick Archfiend' on my field!
"Silent wings bearing hope, Light Magician, appear now—
"—Silent Magician, Special Summon!"
Trick Archfiend's form dissolved within the magic circle. The white-robed magician spun and stepped onto a light-infused magic circle, appearing on the field, his staff twirling lightly in his hand.
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000]
"Silent Magician's ATK increases by 500 for each card in my hand," Yuu Xuan explained. "I have three cards in my hand, so its ATK increases by 1500!"
[Silent Magician, ATK 1000 → ATK 2500]
"Silent Magician's direct attack! Silent Explosion!"
A vortex of light gathered at the tip of his staff, materializing into an orb of magical light that exploded directly in Shel's face. The Doma Swordsman's figure swayed, retreating half a step, yet he stood firm against the substantial impact of the light magic.
[Shel, LP 8000 → LP 5500]
Jaden punched the air: "Great! You dealt a significant amount of damage in one go!"
"You've got some skills."
Shel stretched his neck joints. Yuu Xuan drew three more cards.
"I set three more cards to the field. My turn ends."
"It seems you are not ordinary students either. In that case, I will also get a little serious." Shel narrowed his eyes, "My turn, draw card.
"At the start of the Standby Phase, I first activate the effect of 'Nephthys, the Phoenix God' that was destroyed last turn.
"If this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, during your next Standby Phase, Special Summon this card from the Graveyard."
Shel raised his arm. "The Phoenix will be reborn, and with its scorching flames, it will incinerate everything—
"—Nephthys, the Phoenix God, revive!"
A spiraling pillar of fire shot into the sky, golden wings shimmering as they unfurled. Nephthys, the Phoenix God, reborn from its ashes!
[Nephthys, the Phoenix God, ATK 2400 → ATK 2900]
"And the moment it's reborn, Phoenix God's subsequent effect activates too!" Shel shouted, "When Phoenix God is Special Summoned by its own effect, destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field!"
The Phoenix God let out a shrill cry. It spread its wings and unleashed a storm of fire, transforming into a burning tornado that instantly swept across the entire field!
"It has such powerful ability!" Jaden said, "But in that case, your own Field Spell will also be destroyed..."
"'Orichalcos Barrier's' effect cannot be negated, and once activated, it cannot leave the field by any means," Shel stated coldly. "The end of this battle will only come when one of our souls becomes a complete sacrifice.
"So, only your set cards will be destroyed."
He waved his arm, sweeping across the four set cards on Yuu Xuan and Jaden's fields.
"So all your set cards, be destroyed!"
The Phoenix's flames swept across Yuu Xuan and Jaden's entire field, and all four set cards were simultaneously blown upwards. He instantly saw that two of them were indeed "Mirror Force"!
"Huh?" Yuu Xuan and Jaden exchanged glances.
Apparently, one was Yuu Xuan's set card, and the other was Jaden's.
"Hahaha, sometimes people choose very similar cards," Jaden scratched his head.
In the original anime, Jaden also used Mirror Force. Not only that, in an early duel against Titan, Jaden drew two Mirror Force in his opening hand of six cards—the only person in the entire history of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime to do so.
"Too bad our Traps don't seem to get a chance to appear," Jaden lamented.
"Not necessarily," Yuu Xuan smiled.
As the flames swept over, three of the set cards spun a few times and then surprisingly returned to being set face-down.
"What?" Shel frowned. "Why weren't they destroyed by the Phoenix God's effect?"
"Because one of the cards I set was the Trap Card 'Fake Trap'."
Yuu Xuan pointed to a Trap Card swirling in mid-air.
"When an effect is activated that would destroy a Trap Card(s) on your field, you can destroy this card as a substitute instead, and the other Traps on your field are not destroyed."
If this were a real card game, the opponent could flip and confirm the cards that were set face-down again. But in a duel in this world, you couldn't just walk over to your opponent's side and pull up their backrow to check. Shel could only make out two Mirror Force among the currently set cards from a fleeting glimpse during the animated effect.
"Oh, truly the Academy's Trap Master! Did Yuu Xuan already anticipate the backrow wipe?" Jaden laughed heartily.
"Two Mirror Forces, truly an ironclad formation." Shel said, "Then I still have an effect to resolve in the Standby Phase. The hand card that was destroyed last turn by 'Nephthys Guard' was 'Nephthys the Sacred Flame'.
"When Sacred Flame is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, during your next Standby Phase, you can add one 'Nephthys' card from your Graveyard to your hand."
A card popped out of the Graveyard, and Shel drew it into his hand.
"I return the Spell Card 'Nephthys' Hope' to my hand."
Jaden: "Ah, that troublesome Spell Card again..."
"Spell Card 'Nephthys' Hope' activates."
Shel played the retrieved Spell Card again. The image of the Spell Card materialized before him, erupting with dazzling fire.
"Destroy one 'Nephthys' card on my field and one card on your opponent's field!"