Chapter 360

"My turn. Draw."

The zombie draws a card with a dull sound.

But before he can proceed with any further actions.

"Activate set card."

Fujiki You Xuan waves his hand, and his back row flips over.

"Trap card 'Mind Crush'! Declare a card name; if the opponent happens to have that card in their hand, they must discard all copies of it. If they do not have the declared card, I must randomly discard one card from my hand."

He pauses for a moment, smiling as he looks at the opponent's hand.

"Now let me see, which one should I declare? It's really hard to decide... then let's go with this one."

Fujiki You Xuan hooks his finger.

"Continuous Spell 'United We Stand', let's go with that."

It was bounced back to his hand by "Intercept Wave Resonator" last turn, so it was naturally in his hand. The zombie stares blankly at the trap flipped in Fujiki You Xuan's back row, then stares blankly at the card in his hand, until the card that was declared emits a golden light, gradually becoming transparent and ethereal, until it disappears completely.

The zombie opens his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but cannot get it out, only emitting a vague "um-ah" sound from his throat.

It feels like he is a bit unwilling, and also a bit aggrieved.

"I remember, during the league, that 'United We Stand' was the key to your deck's tactical output, right?" Fujiki You Xuan smiles. "If you activate that thing again, it would be a bit of a headache."

The main force of Morita's deck in the professional league consists of fighter planes, among which Blue Thunder T45 and Broadsword β have attack points of only 1700 and 1200 respectively, which isn't very impressive. But with the boost from United We Stand, they can rise to 2500 and 2000 points respectively.

Blue Thunder has the effect of being able to summon a token when it destroys a monster in battle, while Broadsword β has two powerful effects when it destroys a monster in battle: sending a monster from the deck to the Graveyard, and reviving a monster from the Graveyard. Gaining enough attack boost and combining it with these effects allows for a rapid expansion of advantage.

If there are two "United We Stand" on the field at the same time, it is even more unstoppable, often taking down the opponent in one or two turns; it is a setup with excellent offense and sustainability on the field.

Of course, the premise is that one must have "United We Stand" to gain the basic attack boost.

However, now that he has been perfectly arranged by the combination of bouncing back to the hand and Mind Crush, his tactics are clearly no longer viable.

The zombie is aggrieved, but the zombie doesn't say it. After staring blankly at the opponent for a moment, he still has no choice but to continue playing cards with his head down.

"Summon Blue Thunder T45."

The blue fighter plane that was bounced back to the hand last turn flies out onto the field again with its engine flames jetting.

【Blue Thunder T45, ATK 1700】

"Level eight, Machina Cannon... discard."

He reveals the eight-star "Machina Cannon" in his hand and discards it to the Graveyard. At the same time, another card in his hand blooms with golden light.

"Machina Fortress... Summon!"

The universal Machine-type plug-in, Machina Fortress, can be Special Summoned from the hand or Graveyard by discarding Machine-type monsters from the hand whose total levels are eight or higher.

【Machina Fortress, ATK 2500】

"Change UFO Turtle to attack position."

【UFO Turtle, ATK 1400】

"Spell... activate!"

Although he still has that dull-witted appearance, the zombie's card-playing movements seem slightly faster, and the pitch of his groaning, hoarse voice seems to have risen by a few degrees.

There is a feeling of being carried away.

"Burning Land!"

The erupting flames are like invisible demonic claws tearing up the earth, engulfed in a raging fire. The flames rise like a giant dragon, crazily devouring every inch of land; the entire catapult field is turned into a sea of fire, and the two giant catapults are also burned and disintegrated in the flames.

Continuous Spell "Burning Land"; when activated, all Field Spell cards on the field are destroyed.

"Catapult zone destroyed!"

The zombie seems a bit excited.

In this way, Fujiki You Xuan cannot send Rock-type monsters from the deck to the Graveyard to substitute for destruction.

The zombie follows by entering the Battle Phase: "Blue Thunder... attack Sentinel!"

Blue Thunder's tail flames jet as it takes to the air, and a laser beam shoots toward the Rock Sentinel.

But its beam ultimately fails to hit.

Standing in front of the shooting beam is, once again, that huge and majestic golden Sphinx!

Zombie: "!!?"

He was clearly attacking the Rock Sentinel, so how did it turn into that shady Sphinx?

"Haha, this time it's not 'Guardian Sphinx', but I activated this trap.

Continuous Trap 'Trial of the Traveler'."

Fujiki You Xuan looks at the zombie with a smile.

"As a league player, you must be well-informed, so you must have heard of it, right? The prototype of the Sphinx, the legend of the Sphinx."

"The Sphinx asks travelers to answer a riddle: what animal has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

Zombie: "."

"Never heard of it? Or don't understand?"

Fujiki You Xuan is a bit disappointed.

"Or is your intelligence limited to the scope of dueling? Well, never mind." He points to the trap in the back row and says, "Trial of the Traveler, activated when the opponent's monster declares an attack."

"The opponent randomly guesses one of my hand cards, guessing whether that card is a Spell, Trap, or Monster. If they guess correctly, the attack can continue."

"But if they guess wrong, that attacking monster must return to its owner's hand."

Fujiki You Xuan holds a card from his hand face-down toward the zombie and says with a smile.

"Come on, now you are that traveler. Guess, is this card a Spell, a Trap, or a Monster?"

The zombie stares at the card for a long time, as if wanting to see through it.

"Sp-Spell," he says.

"Is that so?"

Fujiki You Xuan smiles and flips the card over.

"What a pity. This is the Monster card 'Gigantes'," Fujiki You Xuan says. "Guessed wrong, penalty."

"'Blue Thunder T45' returns to the hand."

A red light seems to flash in the eyes of the majestic Sphinx, and a golden light wraps around the fighter plane; the plane then suddenly flies back into the opponent's hand.

Bounced back to the hand again.

Zombie: "."

There is no other way; the zombie can only continue to order in a low voice: "UFO Turtle, Rock Sentinel... attack."

"Then trigger 'Trial of the Traveler' again. When the opponent's monster attacks, guess one of my hand cards; if you guess wrong, it has to return to the hand again."

Zombie: "!!!"

This time, his eyes, surrounded by dark circles, seem to widen in disbelief.

"What's wrong? Looking so surprised?" Fujiki You Xuan smiles. "'Trial of the Traveler' is a Continuous Trap, and it doesn't say once per turn. As long as you attack, it will trigger; isn't that a matter of course?"

Zombie: "."

As long as you attack, you have to solve a riddle; if you guess wrong, the monster has to return to the hand. You have to guess as many times as you attack in a turn.

If Mr. Zombie were still clear-headed, he would surely be cursing wildly in his heart right now—

—What the hell kind of bird card is this!?

By the way, when this card appeared in the anime, its owner was still Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto, who used it when dueling Joey Wheeler in the KC Grand Championship; at that time, even Joey's mentality was almost broken.

It can only be said that Yugi's card skills have such a big difference in style from Atem's, and its origin doesn't seem to be untraceable; it's very likely that there is still a legacy.

"Come on, come on, guess."

Fujiki You Xuan smiles and gestures to the card in his hand.

The zombie holds back for a long time.

"... Monster card."

"Ahahaha, that's a real pity, guessed wrong again."

Fujiki You Xuan reveals the card.

"This time it's the Spell card 'Terraforming'," Fujiki You Xuan laughs. "So sorry, 'UFO Turtle' also returns to the hand."

The Sphinx stands majestically, and the UFO Turtle is also wrapped in golden light and flies back into the zombie's hand.

Zombie: "."

Although his expression is still dull, a "tic-tac-toe" mark seems to appear on his forehead.

"Machina Fortress... attack."

The zombie raises his trembling hand and points to the monster Fujiki You Xuan set.

"Attack the Sphinx."

Clearly, even the zombie's simple brain has done some calculations; although the Rock Sentinel is in attack position, even if it is defeated, it won't reduce much of Fujiki You Xuan's life points, after all, Fujiki You Xuan's life points are still very abundant.

But if he doesn't get rid of this hellish Sphinx, when it flips face-up again next turn, it will bounce all the monsters on his field back to his hand again.

That would be truly game over.

"Then trigger 'Trial of the Traveler' again."

Fujiki You Xuan shuffles the cards in his hand face-down and draws one again toward the zombie.

The zombie holds back for a while.

"... Monster card."

"Oh? Guessing Monster again?"

Fujiki You Xuan nods and reveals the card in his hand.

"Not bad, not bad, guessed right this time. This time it's the Monster card 'Gigantes'. Therefore, this attack goes through."

【Machina Fortress, ATK 2500】

【Guardian Sphinx, DEF 2400】

Machina Fortress's artillery fire blasts through the Sphinx's body, and the huge Sphinx finally shatters, rumbling and disintegrating into a pile of fragments.

"Sphinx... destroyed!"

Perhaps because it wasn't easy to finally defeat this shady Sphinx, the zombie actually seems to have become excited.

"Not bad, not bad, defeated the Sphinx, worked quite hard. However..."

Fujiki You Xuan snaps his fingers.

"Activate set card, Trap card 'Time Machine'. The monster destroyed by battle this turn is Special Summoned to the field in the same form."

"I Special Summon 'Guardian Sphinx' from the Graveyard."

【Guardian Sphinx, DEF 2400】

Zombie: "."

Defeated, but not completely defeated.

"Then it's my turn, draw."

Fujiki You Xuan waves his hand.

"Guardian Sphinx's effect, once per turn, can change to face-down defense position. Set the Sphinx face-down again."

The Sphinx turns back into a face-down monster.

"Because the Sphinx is not a monster summoned this turn, of course, it can be Flip Summoned this turn."

"Therefore, Flip Summon 'Guardian Sphinx'."

【Guardian Sphinx, ATK 1700】

"When Sphinx is successfully Flip Summoned, all monsters on the opponent's field return to their owner's hand."

Fujiki You Xuan smiles and points to the opponent's field.

"Machina Fortress, return to the hand as well."

The huge and heavy fortress also turns into a golden light, following in the footsteps of its colleagues and flying back into the zombie's hand.

The zombie's eyes widen to the limit, staring straight at Fujiki You Xuan for a long time.

Then, gritting his teeth, he squeezes out a sentence with his slurred speech.

"You... you bastard..."

"Oh oh, can you say things other than dueling?" Fujiki You Xuan is pleasantly surprised.

That's a medical miracle.

"'Gigantes' in the hand can be Special Summoned by banishing an Earth-attribute monster from the Graveyard."

"I banish 'Intercept Wave Resonator' from the Graveyard and Special Summon 'Gigantes'."

【Gigantes, ATK 1900】

"Battle," Fujiki You Xuan says. "Gigantes, Guardian Sphinx, Rock Sentinel... direct attack."

The three large Rock monsters take turns stepping forward, and the materialized real damage knocks the zombie to the ground, with a mouthful of black blood spraying far away.

【Duel Zombie, LP 4000 -> LP 0】

(End of Chapter)