Lord of Thunder Decides to Retreat (Seeking Follow-up Reads!!)

Looking at the pop-up on the Duel Instrument prompting him to add a Blank Card, Shen Sui once again marveled at Alice's talent.

He also lamented the state of his wallet—five hundred yuan per Blank Card, buying twenty would cost ten thousand. The money he'd just pocketed was about to be spent again.

Still, this should count as an investment, right.

After all, if some cards really turned out useless, he could just sell them off.

Shen Sui's gaze paused briefly on that [Vivian's Matchbox].

Vivian Imiti, the heroine of the Twilight of the Gods storyline in Dawn Link. When Shen Sui met her, she was selling matches on the icy streets of a city, a beautiful girl with red hair and crimson eyes, dressed in tattered clothes, weaving through the crowd, begging people to buy a box of matches so she could purchase supplies for winter.

Who would have thought that such a desperate girl from the bottom rung would one day set in motion the twilight that felled the gods?

******

Card Name: [Vivian's Matchbox]

Type: Equipment Spell Card

Stars: 10 Stars

Effect: The equipped Follower cannot be Tributed. When a Follower on either side of the field is Tributed, you can activate one of the following effects:

① Draw one card from your Deck;

② Select one Soul Card from your banished zone or Graveyard and return it to your Deck;

******

Tribute—similar to Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's part of the Soul Card Duel rules. But unlike Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Tribute Summon for high-level monsters, Tribute in Soul Card Duels is used to free up slots and recover resources.

During a Soul Card Master's turn, they can Tribute a Follower on their field to gain resources equal to that Follower's star rating.

So even though the tournament rules for Soul Card Duels only allow 16 Soul Points, many decks still have enough resources to deploy. They can use special summons followed by Tributes to gain extra Soul Points.

Since this is part of the game's rules, general resistance naturally can't negate it.

But so far, Shen Sui hadn't seen any effects or summons that required Tributing an opponent's Follower as a cost.

Hmm, right—he should take this opportunity to print some Follower Cards that gift strong Followers to the opponent.

His gaze landed on [Fish King Pa Yin Jia De]. Yeah, once I buy the Blank Cards, I'll come back and modify your effect.

The sea turtle and the Fish King are both water-dwellers; having similar effects makes perfect sense.

Having obtained the Spring Fish King, Alice, bolstered by the prestige of opening Claude's treasure chest, naturally became the leader of the assembled thugs.

Though Shen Sui didn't want to accept this fact, he had to admit the process was perfectly logical—except for the part where his own treasure chest had become a criminal check-in point, which he found hard to understand.

Still, at least for now, Alice's behavior was relatively normal. Becoming the thugs' leader was just an accident; Alice's original goal was mainly to open that chest.

Shen Sui let out a sigh of relief and began seriously considering whether to pay for that program that made the Duel Instrument play a loot sound effect.

This round of chest-opening was very rewarding, netting Shen Sui a batch of Spell Cards. After picking some to fill his deck, the rest could all be sold.

Every time he opened the Duel Instrument and saw Alice suddenly pull something like this, it was too much to handle.

Was he being too lenient? It was time for some ideological education.

The Dawn Continent was very "dangerous"!

As Shen Sui thought this, he scrolled the homepage info to the bottom to check the latest Soul Card updates.

Alice finding her own identity to sneak into the City of Sin was a good thing—at least it kept her from causing trouble under Drodell's nose just to get into the city.

Pfft!

Shen Sui's eyes caught the latest info, and he spat out the water in his mouth.

[Alice absorbed the Magic Crystals from the Storage Box. Alice's magic power has increased.]

[Alice passed by a village and encountered the Knights of the Lord of Thunder collecting Atonement Fees.]

[The knights burned down the villagers' houses and looted their belongings, claiming the villagers had disrespected the Lord of Thunder.]

[Alice thought of her hometown, also destroyed by the Church of the Lord of Thunder. Alice assessed the strength of both sides and decided to take revenge.]

Wait? What strength do you have right now, and you're deciding to take revenge?! Alice, get a grip!

[Alice announced she would perform a magnificent evil deed dedicated to the great God of Sin. The thugs' morale surged, and they decided to follow.]

[Alice announced they would tail and destroy this squad of Thunder Knights' church. The thugs were ecstatic.]

[Destroy the Church of the Lord of Thunder! In the name of the God of Sin, Drodell!]

[Ding! You have obtained the Spell Card: In God's Name.]

[The group followed the knights to Enlin City.]

[Alice used Arson on the Church of the Lord of Thunder in Enlin City.]

[Alice led the thugs in a fierce battle against the Thunder Knights.]

Shen Sui didn't even bother wiping the water stains off the bed. He pressed both hands on the Duel Instrument, ready to input commands at any moment.

On the Dawn Continent, the majesty of the gods was not to be violated. They watched over every church bearing their name. In his previous life's game, whenever Shen Sui wanted to challenge a god, he'd just go burn down their church—that would definitely trigger a boss fight. The method worked every time.

So when Alice destroyed the church, Shen Sui knew this would inevitably draw the attention of the Lord of Thunder.

But it didn't matter.

Shen Sui's gaze carried a cold gleam.

In the previous life's game, I already felt that you gods were acting inhumane (well, gods aren't human to begin with, right?). Now that the Dawn Continent is a real world, Shen Sui finds the gods' behavior even more intolerable.

Through their Godheads, they sealed off mortals' path to reaching the 15th rank. Through their churches, they monopolized the right to interpret Extraordinary Power. Through the Law of Bloodline, they locked mortals out of rising above their class through strength.

As long as the gods exist, the Dawn Continent is a world that appears prosperous on the surface but is actually stagnant.

Come on, come on! Let me see, after a thousand years, how much you, the Lord of Thunder, have grown.

The next moment, a sharp alarm sounded from the Duel Instrument.

[Alice's actions angered the Lord of Thunder, and the Lord of Thunder cast its gaze upon her.]

[The Lord of Thunder wished to descend Divine Punishment.]

[Suddenly! The Lord of Thunder noticed the glow of the Star Super Magic Array on Alice, and it recalled unpleasant memories.]

[Claude! It's Claude!]

[The Lord of Thunder was struck with fear.]

[It decided to retreat.]

[Alice successfully destroyed the Church of the Lord of Thunder in Enlin, and no Divine Punishment descended.]

[The villains believed this was the blessing of the God of Sin, Drodell. They concluded that Alice was a Saintess favored by Drodell, and they revered her even more.]

[Alice's deeds spread across the Dawn Continent through Message Magic, and people learned of the exploits of the Flame Witch Hozeville.]

[Ding! Your Soul Card has gained a new form: Flame Witch]

*****

Card Name: [Flame Witch] (Form Shift)

Category: Follower Card

Star Rating: 3 Stars

Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can select two Spell Cards from your Graveyard and return them to your Deck to activate this effect: Tribute one Follower on your opponent's field, and Special Summon one 3-star, 1200 Spirit Value Flame Elemental Token to your opponent's field.

Spirit Value: 1000