[Card Name: Face-Changing Lion]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ★★★★]
[Race: Animal species]
[Attribute: Normal-type]
[Mana: 1500]
[Attack: 1500]
[Defense: 1500]
[Finishing Move: Face Change (White, Black, Yellow, Red)]
...
On the red player's platform.
Angelia held her Magic Guide Card, a hint of astonishment in her eyes.
Dark's normal summon speed had already surprised her, but what shocked her even more was the extraordinary method he used to transform a first-tier Magic Guide Spirit into a second-tier one!
"To think I was outpaced in a quick summon of a 4-star Magic Guide Spirit..."
She muttered to herself, then a faint smile touched her lips.
"Interesting."
Ever since her second year, after the dueling classes stopped having in-class matches, Angelia had rarely participated in any duels.
She hadn't felt this way in a year and a half.
But piquing her interest came at a price!
"Face-Changing Lion, Yellow Face!"
The order was given.
The mask on the Face-Changing Lion's face instantly switched from white to yellow!
Its relatively slender limbs suddenly swelled, especially its four paws, from which blade-like claws extended!
Visibly, the Face-Changing Lion's attack power rose by a full 300!
[Attack: 1500 → 1800]
The crafty white face increases speed.
The irritable yellow face increases attack.
By switching from the white face to the yellow one, the Face-Changing Lion's speed returned to normal, but its attack was boosted.
It lunged forward, claws digging into the ground, its fury boiling!
Then, it pounced toward Sylveon once more!
At this moment, the Face-Changing Lion's base attack was already higher than Sylveon's. Coupled with its leonine physique and sharp claws, it would surely have the upper hand in close-quarters combat.
But to be safe, Angelia still drew another card from her hand, ready to activate it at a moment's notice.
Time to get serious!
...
The Face-Changing Lion on the field seemed to sense her thoughts. Its naturally ferocious aura intensified, and as it neared Sylveon, it pushed off powerfully with all four limbs, leaping through the air with a low roar!
But Sylveon, having waited in place for so long, was already poised to strike!
"Hyper Beam!"
Dark's soft command rang out.
Sylveon opened its mouth again, but this time, what emerged was not [Hyper Voice], but a terrifying white light radiating an aura of destruction!
The entire field of vision was filled with a blinding whiteness as countless rays of light were absorbed and gathered, forming a white orb in its mouth.
In an instant, that orb transformed into a beam and shot forth!
"BOOM!"
The pouncing Face-Changing Lion didn't even have time to react before the [Hyper Beam] struck it square in the face from point-blank range. With almost no resistance, the Hyper Beam completely engulfed it from head to tail!
When the embers of the light dissipated, cheers finally erupted from the spectators.
The Face-Changing Lion had been utterly reduced to specks of light.
Both were 4-star Magic Guide Spirits.
Yet, in that moment, an absolute gap in power was revealed!
Sylveon, which hadn't moved a single step since being summoned, had completely vaporized the Face-Changing Lion—another 4-star Magic Guide Spirit—by merely expending the mana for two skills!
...
"Mii..."
But after achieving victory, Sylveon's smile was strained.
Its entire body was stiff, caught in the abnormal status condition that follows the use of [Hyper Beam].
It would be unable to move for the next turn.
...
"Hm?"
On the red player's platform, Angelia keenly caught this detail and immediately activated the Magic Guide Card she had prepared!
Where the Face-Changing Lion had vanished, a shadow suddenly fell.
From within the shadow, a creature stirred.
A Face-Changing Lion, black as shadow itself save for its yellow mask, raised its upper body from that very shadow!
"What is this?"
On the blue player's platform, Dark showed a look of shock, nearly interrupting the Tribute Summon he was preparing.
The patch of shadow was originally very close to Sylveon. Now, as the shadow-like Face-Changing Lion emerged, it took only a single leap to pounce onto Sylveon, its raised claws slashing viciously at its chest!
Sylveon's body was rigid, able to do nothing but allow the Face-Changing Lion to leave a deep gash on its chest!
It was a good thing Sylveon's maximum mana was as high as 1900 and its defense was not weak; otherwise, it would have been torn to shreds on the spot!
Immediately after, a white light descended from the sky.
The stiffened Sylveon showed a final, extremely unwilling expression of annoyance before turning into light and ascending, merging with the white light from above!
"Sacrificing [Illusion Beast: Sylveon], I perform a Tribute Summon—[Sylveon]!"
Having calmed down, Dark completed a nested maneuver.
In mid-air, the two white lights converged and merged, forming a mysterious and complex tribute summoning circle.
And a brand new Magic Guide Spirit—a Sylveon identical to the last one—made a graceful entrance!
...
"Again!"
Angelia pressed a hand to her forehead.
"It seems this type of Magic Guide Spirit's mana and defense are higher than they appear. Otherwise, a spirit with less than fifty percent of its mana remaining would be almost impossible to use as a tribute to summon another of the same level."
Using a Magic Guide Spirit of a certain level as a tribute to summon another of the same level—the main purpose of such a nested maneuver should be to remove an irremovable negative status or to reset skill cooldowns.
The price for this is a same-level Magic Guide Spirit that is still perfectly capable of fighting.
The duelist must weigh the trade-offs themselves.
She then glanced at the Ritual Card she had just activated.
→[Da Vinci's Photocopy]!
The card art depicted a notebook sinking into a shadow.
...
The famous Dragon Egg Magic Guide Master, Da Vinci, drew thousands upon thousands of dragon eggs in his research. In the end, he 'accidentally' broke the egg and used projection magic to photocopy the dragon egg from his memory onto a notebook, finally escaping the endless hell of drawing dragon eggs.
The Ritual Card refined from this legend is [Da Vinci's Photocopy].
When a marked Magic Guide Spirit dies, a shadow identical to the dead spirit can be summoned from the darkness!
This is actually a type of "Special Summon."
Bypassing Normal and Tribute Summons, using a Ritual Card to special summon a new Magic Guide Spirit!
...
Unfortunately, her opponent happened to have a counter, ruining her chance for a surprise victory.
Angelia frowned slightly and reached for her deck.
The first turn was over. The battle of the second turn was just beginning.
...
[Battle Phase] [30s]
As both players drew their cards, the two Magic Guide Spirits on the field were already locked in combat!
The newly summoned Sylveon didn't even have time to show off its cute ribbons before it was instantly pounced on and pinned by the Face-Changing Lion!
"Mii!"
Sylveon, infuriated, instantly whipped out its two ribbon-like feelers, coiling them like snakes around the Face-Changing Lion's forelimbs. With a sharp tug backward, it freed itself.
Sylveon shook its head, about to deliver a stern punishment to the lion with [Moon Power], when it suddenly noticed heart symbols appearing in the lion's eyes.
"Mii?"
Their close contact had triggered the [Charming Body] effect.
This shadow Face-Changing Lion had clearly been captivated by the overwhelmingly cute Sylveon.
A corner of Sylveon's mouth curled up. It suddenly sidestepped, creating some distance, and then looked with great interest at the Magic Sphere floating alone in the red player's summon zone!
It's just a duel, after all.
No need to be too violent, right?
As long as I charm the opponent's Magic Guide Spirit and then shatter the Magic Sphere's life barrier, I can get hugs, kisses, and cuddles. Oh, and a little red flower!
...
On the red player's platform, Angelia was still examining the two cards she had just drawn when the corner of her eye caught something amiss on the field.
She whipped her head around and saw her Face-Changing Lion hanging motionless, while that pink Magic Guide Spirit had opened its mouth toward her Magic Sphere.
Suddenly, moonlight spilled down from the sky.
Pure, bright moonlight rapidly converged into its mouth, already forming an orb!
...
In that instant, Angelia felt a sense of foreboding. The skin on her scalp tingled, and she almost subconsciously pointed a finger.
All the mana in her body flowed to her fingertip and shot toward the Magic Sphere below!
Almost simultaneously.
The beam from [Moon Power] erupted!
In her haste, Angelia yanked her hand back!
The red Magic Sphere instantly flew upward.
But in the time it took for its speed to go from zero to anything, the clear beam of moonlight had already shot toward it!
Cracks appeared on the Magic Sphere's life barrier, visible to the naked eye.
Its mana value dropped rapidly.
But at the last moment, it finally escaped the attack range of [Moon Power]!
"Swoosh!"
The Magic Sphere, now high in the sky, glowed dimly, looking as if it might shatter at any moment.
Angelia was drenched in sweat!
Lacking dueling experience, her reaction to such a sudden move was still too slow.
But ultimately, she hadn't been instantly defeated because of it.
...
The audience outside the field cheered wildly at this sudden, thrilling turn of events.
Sylveon, however, puffed up its cheeks, showing a hint of dissatisfaction.
Unlike the Sylveon that evolved from Little Eevee, which had two powerful offensive skills, this one only had [Moon Power] as a high-damage move among its three skills.
After this attack, only the weaker [Alluring Voice] remained.
If the battle were to continue, it would have to resort to using its claws and fangs.
But how could a Magic Guide Spirit as cute and elegant as itself resort to fighting with claws and fangs?
Sylveon shook its head violently, then used its ribbons to bind the Face-Changing Lion even tighter. It flipped the lion upside down, head to the ground, and slammed it down hard!
...
"Face-Changing Lion, Red Face!"
The mesmerized Face-Changing Lion instantly changed its face.
The originally yellow mask turned red.
The loyal red face increases defense.
[Defense: 1500 → 1800]
As its skull hardened, the sound of it hitting the ground became even crisper!
"BOOM!"
On the blue player's platform, Dark looked surprised. "It can still change its face while mesmerized? Is that mask some kind of reactive item? Can it still respond to the Magic Guide Master's voice?"
Before he could think further, Angelia on the other side issued her next command.
"Face-Changing Lion, Black Face!"
The fierce black face increases mana.
The mask that had just turned red was immediately dyed pitch black.
Under the various stimuli, the Face-Changing Lion finally broke free from its mesmerized state.
But with its attack, defense, and speed all returned to normal, the Face-Changing Lion was like a declawed beast, nothing more than a big cat caught in a bind.
It struggled desperately but couldn't escape the ribbons' grasp, being used like a hammer to play whack-a-mole with the ground over and over again.
...
However, Angelia had achieved her goal of stalling for time.
She reached out and drew a new Magic Guide Card from her hand.
"Normal Summon, [Exquisite Ball]!"
As a white light bloomed, a metal sphere with exquisite hollow carvings appeared in the air.
Then it opened its 'mouth' and swallowed the dimly glowing red Magic Sphere!
...
[Card Name: Exquisite Ball]
[Type: Spirit Card]
[Level: ★★★]
[Race: Machine]
[Attribute: Steel-type]
[Mana: 700]
[Attack: 0]
[Defense: 2000]
[Finishing Move: None]
...
A 3-star Machine, Steel-type, silver, Exquisite Ball!
Its 2000 defense, obtained at the cost of 0 attack, surpassed that of a typical white card!
But any Magic Guide Master familiar with [Exquisite Ball] would notice that Angelia's version was also a special individual!
A normal Exquisite Ball is only the size of a bowl; it would be impossible for it to contain a Magic Sphere.
But Angelia's Exquisite Ball was two meters in diameter!
With this volume, it could easily hold not just one Magic Sphere, but two people with room to spare.
Its flaw, perhaps, lay in the hollow carvings on its surface.
A surface that wasn't completely sealed meant its protective capabilities were somewhat lacking.
But in a duel, the advantage of Exquisite Ball being able to carry the Magic Sphere while moving through the air was a bonus.
In short, after summoning Exquisite Ball, Angelia could divert her attention and focus more on offense!
...
She glanced at the three Magic Guide Cards remaining in her hand and sighed softly.
This duel was taking longer than she had expected.
...
On the other side, Dark also had two new cards in his hand.
▼
[Curse Cage: DemiDevimon]
[Greed II]
▲
The moment he saw his hand, Dark's heart sank slightly.
These two Magic Guide Cards wouldn't bring about any substantial change.
Right now, his only fighting power was the Sylveon on the field. If Angelia-senpai pulled another surprise move, he would have a hard time responding.
"I'll summon DemiDevimon first!"
One more Magic Guide Spirit meant one more possibility.
Dark directly summoned DemiDevimon above his summon zone.
Appearing on the dueling field for the second time, DemiDevimon looked back at Dark with pleading eyes, signaling that it didn't want to slack off.
Dark grinned and asked, "In that case, can your needles get small enough to pass through the gaps in that Exquisite Ball?"
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