Chapter 976: Dissonant Counter

Fake Jack suffered a setback; just moments ago he had proudly set up what he thought was an unstoppable formation, but he was instantly crushed by a single frog.

Fuming inside, he glanced at the two dragons that had just been bounced back to his hand, then at his empty field, and gritted his teeth.

With no defense on the field, he’d almost certainly be wiped out next turn.

If that’s the case,

“Underestimating the King’s duel will cost you dearly!”

Fake Jack roared.

“Activate the spell card ‘Hand Destruction’!”

Both players discard their entire hands, then draw the same number of cards from their decks!”

Fake Jack immediately discarded all cards in his hand, including the Evil Dragon and Storm Dragon that had just been bounced back.

“Also, due to the effect of the spell card ‘Compensation’ among the discarded cards, draw two more cards from the deck!”

Fake Jack swept his arm in a wild motion, frantically drawing cards until a large new hand filled his grip.

“Perfect!”

The frantic draw had indeed given him an opening. Slightly reassured, Fake Jack placed four cards face-down on the field.

“I set four cards face-down. End of my turn!”

“Four face-down cards. Hmph.” You Xuan said.

True Jack, riding alongside on the Wheel of Fortune, couldn’t help but warn: “Watch out, You Xuan—this guy’s strange. He’s strong, and he even has the same—”

“No problem. He’s just a clumsy imitator.” You Xuan smiled faintly. “I’ll peel off that fake mask for you soon.”

“My turn. Draw.”

True Jack remained silent.

A clumsy imitator?

He’d thought the same before, but as someone who’d lost to this “clumsy imitator,” he now found himself speechless.

“During the standby phase of this turn, the effect of ‘Assassin Snake,’ discarded from hand during the previous turn to summon ‘Ghost Frog,’ activates.”

“During your own standby phase, if ‘Assassin Snake’ is in the graveyard, you can return it to your hand.”

You Xuan shook the Assassin Snake returned from the graveyard, adding it to his hand.

“Next, activate the spell card ‘Ocean Retrieval.’” You Xuan said. “You can add two water-type monsters with 1500 or less attack from your graveyard to your hand.”

“I return ‘River Frog’ and ‘Ghost Frog’ from the graveyard to my hand.”

You Xuan revealed two more cards, adding them to his hand.

“Now, this card—”

You Xuan smiled mysteriously, raising a spell card high.

“Continuous Spell ‘Survival’s Bounty’!”

A legendary banned card, first appearing in the hands of Ma Like’s puppet, debuting in the same duel as Obelisk the Tormentor—simple effect, yet brutally devastating.

“Whenever a monster is special summoned from your graveyard, draw one card.”

The version in You Xuan’s hand is the real card effect, different from the anime. The anime version held by Mr. Ma was even more brutal—drawing three cards. But when You Xuan searched the market, Mr. Ma’s version was long out of print, or perhaps Mr. Ma had been using a fake card printed by the Gurus Group, the number-one counterfeit card dealer in Duel Monsters.

Of course, while the anime version allowed violent draws of three cards every time a monster revived, it had its own flaws. For example, the anime version was mandatory, while the real card is optional. Had the anime version of ‘Survival’s Bounty’ not been mandatory, Mr. Ma wouldn’t have been tricked by the traitor dragon into emptying his entire deck.

Also, although ‘Survival’s Bounty’ is now a perennial banned card, in the real-world environment of Duel Monsters before 5D’s, it was not yet banned—only limited. From today’s perspective, an effect that lets you draw a card every time a monster revives from the graveyard seems absurdly powerful—wouldn’t it instantly empty your entire deck into your hand?

But in the pace of Duel Monsters up to the Synchro era, it was still tolerable. Thus, ‘Survival’s Bounty’ remained unbanned for eight years after its release, unlike what many modern players assume—that it was banned from the start.

You Xuan: “Next, activate the effect of ‘Ghost Frog,’ just returned to hand: discard a water-type monster from hand to special summon ‘Ghost Frog’ again!”

You Xuan discarded another card from hand—obviously the recently recovered ‘Assassin Snake.’ Assassin Snake could self-retrieve every turn, returning from graveyard to hand, and as a water-type monster, it synergized perfectly with the Frog deck.

【Ghost Frog, ATK 1000】

Fake Jack snorted: “So you recovered this frog just to send another one from your deck to the graveyard?”

“Correct. Send one water-type, Aqua, Level 2 or lower monster from your deck to the graveyard.”

One card in You Xuan’s deck that met the condition automatically popped up.

“I send ‘Swap Frog’ from my deck to the graveyard.”

“Then activate the face-down card: Continuous Trap ‘Restricted Revival’—revive a monster with 1000 or less ATK from the graveyard. Revive, Swap Frog!”

【Swap Frog, ATK 100】

Fake Jack: “All this effort… just for a frog with 100 ATK?”

You Xuan smiled.

Only 100 ATK? You clearly have no idea how valuable the top banned card in the Frog family really is.

“Since I revived a monster from the graveyard, the effect of Continuous Spell ‘Survival’s Bounty’ activates: draw one card from the deck.”

You Xuan drew a card, then said calmly.

“Activate Swap Frog’s effect: Tribute one monster on your field to special summon one ‘Frog’ from your deck.”

“I tribute ‘Piercing Frog’ on the field to special summon ‘Death Frog’ from my deck!”

The tiny Piercing Frog dissolved into light, replaced by a massive emerald Death Frog, larger than a human, leaping onto the field.

【Death Frog, ATK 1900】

“I haven’t performed a normal summon this turn.” You Xuan said. “I normal summon ‘Cyber Fishman – Gunner’ from hand.”

【Cyber Fishman – Gunner, ATK 100】

“Level 1, Tuner monster ‘Cyber Fishman – Gunner’!”

“Level 5, ‘Death Frog’!”

“Tuning!”

【1+5=6】

“The frigid star gathers at the tip of the blade—a lance of eternal winter piercing the heavens! Synchro Summon—”

“—Level 6, Ice Barrier Dragon – Light Spear Dragon!!!”

A biting aurora ripped through the battlefield; a six-pointed starburst bloomed amid the blizzard. The Tuned monsters transformed into twin azure columns spiraling together, ice crystals coalescing into the slender silhouette of a dragon.

Fake Jack snorted heavily: “I’ve already seen through your plan—you’re going to attack with Synchro!”

“Counter Trap ‘Dissonant Counter’!”

This card can only be activated when your opponent performs a Synchro Summon, returning that Synchro Monster to the Extra Deck and special summoning the materials used for that Synchro Summon onto your opponent’s field!” (Original card)

Purple energy chains lashed from the card, tightly encircling the Light Spear Dragon’s Synchro aura. The mighty dragon let out a agonized roar; its icy body cracked like spiderwebs, then shattered into a storm of stardust. The blizzard ceased instantly; only a few unfrozen ice crystals drifted slowly downward, bearing witness to the Synchro’s demise the moment it was born.

“Not over yet!” Fake Jack laughed loudly. “And any player hit by ‘Dissonant Counter’ cannot summon, flip summon, or special summon any monsters until the end of their next turn!”

(End of Chapter)