A Card Game by the Hearth
The firewood in the fireplace was burning brightly, occasionally crackling softly, adding to the warmth of the sun-drenched library. The air was filled with the distinctive scent of ink from old books, mingled with the crisp aroma of freshly mowed lawn drifting in from outside.
Lowell slumped lazily in a heavy velvet armchair by the window, one leg casually draped over the armrest, toying with several rhombus-shaped "magic Crystallize" of different colors that shimmered faintly in his hand—these were the "dice" used to pay fees in the previous "Human-Demon Summoning" card game.
His eyes, hidden beneath his black hair, were half-closed as he glanced at the two men opposite him who were standing ready for battle.
Frieren curled up on the carpet next to his chair, leaning against the cushion, her long silver hair spreading out like moonlight.
She was intently flipping through a thick, hardcover book with intricate magic circles printed on the cover, occasionally running her fingertip lightly across a line of annotations, seemingly not particularly interested in the upcoming battle. Scattered around her were her own deck of cards and magic Crystallize.
Their opponents were Himmel and Ruby, who were sitting on the other side of the coffee table.
Himmel sat upright, his short blue hair neatly styled, his handsome face bearing a gentle yet serious expression as he carefully arranged the cards laid out in front of him, making sure they were in perfect order.
Ruby, standing beside him, presented a completely different picture. Her fiery red curly hair seemed about to explode with excitement, her large blue eyes were fixed on Lowell and Frieren, her small face full of eager fighting spirit. She leaned forward, almost lying on the coffee table, her hands pressing on her card deck, like a little leopard ready to pounce at any moment.
"Hmph! Lowell! Frieren! This time we're fully prepared! We're determined to avenge our defeat! This time we're not playing the Human-Demon Summoning, we're playing the Duel King!" Ruby's clear and loud voice broke the silence of the room.
Frieren looked up from her book, blinked, and said flatly, "Oh." Then she looked down again and turned the page.
Lowell chuckled. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Ruby. Last time, someone's 'Explosion Magic' used up all my magic Crystallize, leaving me with a problem."
"That... that was an accident!" Ruby blushed and retorted stubbornly, "It won't happen this time! Putting aside 'Human-Demon Summoning,' as for 'Duel King,' our tactics are flawless!"
Himmel smiled helplessly, gently patting Ruby's shoulder to calm her down. "Ruby, calm down. The game has only just begun." He looked at Lowell, "So, in order, shall we go first?"
"Please go ahead." Lowell gestured "please," his posture relaxed.
"Turn begins!" Ruby announced impatiently, "My turn! Draw a card!"
She glanced at her hand, her eyes lighting up. "Hmph~ Perfect start! I'll sacrifice half my life points to summon my trump card in attack position—'Explosive Magician Ruby ' (Magician/Light/Level 8/ATK 2000/DEF 2500)!"
She slammed a card onto the coffee table. The card Bloom with a dazzling red light, and a chibi-style red-haired mage wielding a magnificent staff and surrounded by flames flashed by.
"And activate her skill immediately! When she enters the field in Attack Position, she reduces the ATK of all monsters on your field by 2000! If their ATK is below 2000, they will be destroyed! Hmph, even if you don't have any monsters right now, as long as this card is on the field until the start of the next turn, this effect will apply when you summon your monsters! Let's see how you summon monsters!" Ruby raised her chin triumphantly.
"Oh? Such a fierce attack right from the start." Lowell raised an eyebrow. "But, Frieren?"
"Hmm." Frieren didn't even look up, but simply stretched out her left hand and drew a card. "Discard one card to activate a Quick-Play Spell - 'Mana Insulation Barrier'. Until the start of your next turn, your monsters are immune to all enemy Spell and Monster Card effects."
A barely perceptible, transparent barrier of light flashed and disappeared on one side of Lowell and Frieren's arena.
"Huh?! How could this be!" Ruby's face immediately fell. "Lady Frieren, you cheated! You were clearly reading a book!"
Frieren finally raised her head again, her emerald eyes filled with an innocent look. "This card's effect can be activated in your hand at any phase. And," she waved the spellbook in her hand, "It doesn't prohibit reading while battling."
Ruby puffed up her cheeks and sat back down. "Ugh... well, I'll just set a card face down, end of turn!"
It was Lowell's turn. He slowly sat up a little straighter and glanced at his hand.
"My turn, draw a card." He deliberately curled his lips into a wicked smile, like a dragon king. "Attack position summon—'Lazy Demon King Lowell (False)' (Demons /DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0)."
A card fell, and a chibi-style Lowell phantom appeared, yawning and wearing an adorable horn headband, even stretching.
"Its attack power is only 0, and its defense power is also 0. As for the effect..." Lowell drawled, "Not really! However, activate the Field Spell Card— 'Fragrance of Decay'. While this card is on the field, each time a monster is destroyed by battle or card effect, Special Summon a 'Corrupt Token' (Demons /Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0/Cannot be Tributed) to your opponent's field."
"Huh? That's it?" Ruby, puzzled.
"Don't rush me." Lowell chuckled. "I'll activate another Normal Spell— 'Demon's Whisper.' Draw a card and select one face-up monster on your opponent's field; its ATK decreases by 500. I choose... your 'Explosive Magician Ruby.'"
A wisp of black mist enveloped the phantom of the mage on Ruby's field, dimming its light slightly.
"Attack power reduced by 500?" Ruby glanced at the 2000 attack power displayed on her card. "Still 1500! Still stronger than yours!"
"So-ro-wa-do-ka-na- (Is that really so?)?" Lowell, still mimicking a certain tone, slowly played another card from his hand. "Activate Equip Spell - 'The Seemingly Ordinary Apple'. This card can only be equipped to monsters with 0 ATK or DEF. Of course, I'm equipping it to 'Lazy Demon King Lowell (Fake)' on my field."
A phantom image of a bright red, flawless apple landed in the hands of the yawning "Demon King".
"The monster equipped with this card will always have its ATK and DEF set to the same as the original ATK of the monster with the highest ATK on your opponent's field!" Lowell grinned knowingly. "So, now my imposter has 2000 ATK! And, once per turn, it can negate the attack of one of your monsters. I'll set another card, and end my turn."
"Wh... what?!" Ruby's eyes widened as she stared at the seemingly harmless "Demon King" phantom on the opponent's field, holding an apple, its attack power instantly soaring to 2000. She almost jumped up. "Foul! This card is too overpowered!"
"Card effects, in black and white." Lowell shrugged, slumped back into his chair, picked up the half-finished juice from the table next to him, and took a sip. "Your turn, Himmel."
Himmel observed the situation on the field, a thoughtful glint in his blue eyes, but he remained calm. He steadily began his turn. "My turn, draw."
He observed Lowell's field setup, especially the abnormally powerful "Demon King" and the face-down cards in the background. After a moment's thought, he said, "I summon 'Hero Himmel LV4' in Defense Position (Warrior/Light/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1500). Then, I activate its effect: When this card is successfully summoned, you can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Hero Party' monster from your hand. I Special Summon 'Warrior Eisen LV3' in Defense Position (Warrior/Light/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 1900)."
The phantoms of Himmel and Heiter stood side by side.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card—'Squad Tactics: Defensive Formation'!" Himmel placed a card into the Graveyard. "Until the start of my next turn, 'LV' monsters on my field cannot be destroyed by battle, but battle damage will still be calculated. Furthermore, 'Warrior Eisen LV3' has the effect: Once per turn, when another monster on my field becomes the target of an attack, you can forcibly transfer the attack target to this card."
A semi-transparent shield of light enveloped Himmel and Ruby's three monsters on the field.
"Oh? A standard defensive counter-attack opening," Lowell commented. "Trying to defend with an effect that can't be destroyed by battle, and then counter-attack with Ruby's high attack power next turn?"
"Not only that." Himmel smiled slightly and played another card, "Set one card face down. End of turn."
Frieren drew a card, then frowned and pouted.
She got stuck with a bad hand and couldn't summon any monsters, so she just set a "Mimic in Disguise" trap card and passed.
What an unlucky guy.
The pressure is now on Ruby. The second round begins, and theoretically, the monster can attack now.
But looking at her hand and then at the trump cards on the field, whose attack power had been reduced and which were unable to launch an offensive due to the opponent's one invalid attack per turn, her little face scrunched up.
"Ugh... I'm a bit stuck too... Activate the spell -- 'Very Sour Grapes'! Take 1000 Life Points damage, draw two extra cards during your next draw phase! Then... Summon a monster in face-down defense position, end your turn!" She finished her turn somewhat dejectedly.
It was Lowell and Frieren's turn again.
Frieren finally closed the thick magic book, gently placed it aside, and calmly swept the battlefield with her emerald eyes.
Theoretically, it should be Lowell, but the order of teammates can be rotated. One of the effects of "Mimic in Disguise" is that when it is set to face down, you can see what the top card of your deck is, so she requested to play.
She drew the card she had just acquired from her hand. "Summon -- 'Elf Mage Frieren' (Mage/Light/Level 4/ATK 1600/DEF 1600)."
A chibi-style elf, holding a wooden staff and with long, flowing silver hair, quietly appeared, her eyes indifferent yet focused.
"And, activate her effect—" Frieren's fingertip touched her card: If this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can add 1 Spell Card from your Graveyard to your hand. While that Spell Card is in your hand, this card cannot be destroyed by battle. I choose to take back... 'Mana Insulation Barrier'."
"Then," Frieren played another card from her hand, "I activate the Equip Spell Card—'Flying Flight Magic.' This card can only be activated when there is a Demons- Type monster in the Graveyard, and it can only be equipped to a Spellcaster-Type monster. I equipped it to 'Elf Spellcaster Frieren.' The equipped monster can attack the opponent directly."
"What!? Where did these Demons monsters come from in your graveyard?" Ruby questioned.
"Hmph~ Have you forgotten that I discarded a card when I used 'Mana Insulation Barrier'? That card was the Demons' Corrupt Sage Qual '~ And when 'Corrupt Sage Qual' is in the Graveyard, the damage dealt by my direct attacks is increased by 500 points!" Frieren smugly, hands on her hips.
"Seriously... there's such a thing! As expected of Lady Frieren..."
Transparent wings of wind unfurled behind Frieren's phantom.
"Entering combat phase." Frieren's tone remained calm. "'Elf Mage Frieren,' directly attack the player."
The elven phantom gently waved its staff, and a soft yet swift flame bypassed all the monsters on the field, heading straight for Ruby and Himmel themselves.
"Whoa!" Ruby surprise, seeing that her team's base score had dropped by 2100 points, leaving only 900 points.
"It's not over yet," Frieren continued, "'Lazy Demon King Lowell (Fake)' attacks 'Explosive Magician Ruby'."
The "Demon King," holding an apple, lazily walked forward and threw it at the opposing mage.
"I won't let you succeed!" Himmel immediately activated her effect, "I activate the effect of 'Warrior Eisen LV3': Once per turn, when another monster on our side becomes the target of an attack, you can forcibly transfer the attack target to this card. And because of the effect of 'Team Tactics - Defensive Formation', 'Warrior Eisen LV3' cannot be destroyed by battle this turn! Negate the attack of 'Lazy Demon King Lowell (Fake)'!"
Eisen's phantom stepped forward, blocking the flying apple, and then politely tossed it back to the "Demon King."
After all, it's someone else's equipment.
"Ah, I forgot." Frieren realized she had performed an invalid operation, but it didn't really matter.
"Activate a Spell Card! Resurrection Spell! Resurrect 'Explosive Magician Ruby' from my Graveyard and activate its effect! Heh heh! Destroy! Burn to ashes!"
"Discard all my cards and reduce my Life Points to 1 to Special Summon 'Bloodstained War God Rivale'! (Demons /Level 10/ATK 3500/DEF 3500) Activate his Special Effect! Once per turn, reduce the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field by 1000! After that, destroy monsters with 0 ATK and DEF! For each Demons monster this card destroys, that monster gains 'cannot be destroyed until the start of your next turn'! For each non- Demons monster this card destroys, restore 500 Life Points, and that monster gains 'ATK increases by 500 until the start of your next turn'!"
"Activate Trap Card! 'The Human Emperor's Decision'! You draw ten cards and banish all non- Demons monsters on your field and in your Graveyard! But I cannot attack next turn, and you gain 'Unlimited Hand Size' and 'Cannot Lose Due to Inability to Draw Cards'."
"Using these three monsters as sacrifices, Special Summon 'Hero Who Defeated the Demon King, Himmel'..."
(How did you feel about these two chapters? I tried writing them, but this book won't be about this kind of writing forever. I plan to mainly write it like this in the next book ૮₍｡•ᴗ•｡₎ა-. Of course, this book isn't finished yet; I'm just checking the reviews first.)