Heroic Spirit Deck in Yu-Gi-Oh!

[Alister LP: 4000 → 3300]

"The Fire King High Avatar Garunix has been destroyed, Alister. And with Brave Elizabeth's attack power soaring to 3400, you won't be able to attack this turn either."

Elizabeth sheathed her sword at her waist and proudly patted her nonexistent chest. "What a glorious victory! Now I'm a bona fide hero too!"

"Tch, what kind of ridiculous Duel Monster is that, capable of using a sound-based attack like that?" Alister muttered, recovering from the sonic barrage. He glanced at the shattered Fire King Garunix on his field.

"When Fire King High Avatar Garunix is destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard, its effect activates!" Flames erupted from the Graveyard Zone on Alister's black, custom Duel Disk.

[Fire King High Avatar Garunix - Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 "Fire King" monster from your Deck, except "Fire King High Avatar Garunix."]

"Since this effect activates in the Graveyard, it's unaffected by Onslaught of the Fire Kings' negation!" Alister explained as he retrieved a card from his Deck.

"—I Special Summon [Fire King Avatar Yaksha]!"

[Fire King Avatar Yaksha ★★★★(Level 4)][FIRE][Beast-Warrior/Effect][ATK 1800/DEF 200]

Flames coalesced into a humanoid form, revealing a tiger-headed warrior wielding a long spear as he stepped onto the battlefield.

"Even with Yaksha on the field, I can't defeat your monster with its enhanced attack power this turn, so I'll end the Battle Phase."

With Brave Elizabeth's attack power reaching a level capable of taking down even a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Alister felt increasingly cornered.

"After ending my Battle Phase, I activate the Spell [Circle of the Fire Kings]!" Alister slotted another card into his Duel Disk.

[Circle of the Fire Kings - Quick-Play Spell Effect: Target 1 FIRE monster you control and 1 FIRE monster in your GY; destroy the monster you control, and if you do, Special Summon the other monster from your GY.]

A blazing ring of fire linked the field and the Graveyard, triggering an explosion.

"I destroy my Fire King Avatar Barong on the field to resurrect Fire King High Avatar Garunix from the Graveyard!"

Within the fiery explosion, Barong vanished—replaced by the resurrected flaming bird.

[Fire King High Avatar Garunix★★★★★★★★ (Level 8)][FIRE][Winged Beast/Effect][ATK 2700/DEF 1700]

Tilting her head, Hoshino analyzed the situation. "Destroying your own monsters to revive others? Feels like just running a Monster Reborn would be simpler."

"Hmph, seems even the Duel King can be naïve," Alister sneered, flames still flickering around his Duel Disk's Graveyard Zone.

"All Fire King monsters have effects that trigger when they're destroyed! I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

[Alister's Field: 1 Hand Card | 2 Set Cards]

"So they trigger upon destruction, huh?" Hoshino mused, now understanding Alister's strategy. "Your Barong hasn't activated yet, but Garunix did summon another monster when destroyed."

"My turn—draw!"

"During your Standby Phase, [Fire King Avatar Barong]'s effect activates from the Graveyard!" Timing his move perfectly after Hoshino's draw, Alister raised his fiery Duel Disk.

[Fire King Avatar Barong - Effect: Once per turn, during the next Standby Phase after this card was destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY: Add 1 "Fire King" card from your Deck to your hand.]

"Thanks to Barong's effect, I add this Fire King card from my Deck to my hand…!"

"—[Fire King High Avatar Garunix]!"

"A second Garunix, huh?" Hoshino muttered, now grasping Alister's intent. "Seems like that's the ace of your Deck."

Sliding the drawn card into her hand, she smirked.

"But no matter how many times your phoenix rises, it's no match for my Brave Elizabeth!"

Placing another card into her Duel Disk, Hoshino's confidence soared.

"This sword will sever the flames of hell, Elizabeth! Equip Spell, activate!"

Elizabeth hopped excitedly. "Finally, a new weapon?! All that grinding has paid off! Is it a new Hero Sword? It must be perfect for me!"

"Equip Spell, activate—[Dōjigiri Yasutsuna]!"

A deafening thunderclap echoed as a magnificent katana descended from the sky, embedding itself into the ground before Brave Elizabeth.

"This isn't right, Manager! This is clearly not a Hero Sword!" Elizabeth exclaimed, staring at the katana in bewilderment.

"This is obviously the blade that busty samurai used to slay that alcohol-loving oni!"

"Elizabeth, a true hero masters all weapons!" Hoshino said, adopting an absurdly serious expression, clenching her fist in encouragement.

"Even a slingshot, when wielded by a hero, can proudly be called the Ultimate Hero Sword!"

"Ooooh! I see now! Your hero philosophy runs even deeper than mine, Manager!"

Easily swayed by Hoshino's nonsense, Elizabeth gripped the katana's hilt without hesitation.

"Then I'm going in!"

Hoshino smirked inwardly. With such a gullible little dragoness, she could probably scam her way to a whole flock.

[Dōjigiri Yasutsuna - Equip Spell Effect: Equip only to a LIGHT "Heroic Spirit" monster. The equipped monster gains ATK equal to its DEF (max 2000).]

"This is truly… an incredible power!"

Drawing the blade from the ground, Brave Elizabeth was instantly imbued with thunderous energy. With her 2500 DEF fully utilized, she unleashed the katana's true potential.

[Brave Elizabeth ATK: 2400 → 4400]

"Amazing, Manager! I feel like I could defeat anyone now!"

Overcome with overconfidence, Elizabeth raised the blade and called upon the power of thunder.

"—Vengeful Lightning of the Ox-King!!"

Stop! That's not even your Noble Phantasm!

Bravely raising the Dōjigiri Yasutsuna high, Brave Elizabeth summoned four bolts of lightning that coalesced into distinct figures beside her.

"Elizabeth · Lancer!"

"Elizabeth · Caster!"

"Mecha Eli-chan!"

"Mecha Eli-chan Mk. II!"

The four Elizabeths encircled Brave Elizabeth and declared in perfect unison:

"The ultimate mascot, the strongest event Servant, and the best friend of F2P players! We are the Four Heavenly Kings of Elizabeth!"

…When did they even rehearse that? Wait—wasn't one of them not even an event Servant?

Brave Elizabeth leveled her blade at her opponent.

"Take this! Elizabeth Báthory's ultimate attack! Heroic Power (Sonic Attack) Quintuple Ensemble!"

"No way?!" Realizing something dreadful was about to unfold, Hoshino instinctively clutched her head.

"You've got to be kidding me! Is it going to be five times as bad as before?!"

The three Doma, who had already suffered through one of Elizabeth's sonic attacks, reacted on pure instinct. Mirroring Hoshino, they clamped their hands over their ears in terror.

"La~♪… Get! Crimson Tornado (Deluxe Version), Witch Báébet!!" x5

The quintuple sonic bombardment obliterated Fire King High Avatar Garunix on the spot, reducing its fiery body to ash before it even had a chance to act.

"[Brave Elizabeth]'s effect activates! When this card battles, I draw one card!"

Struggling to withstand the aftershock of Elizabeth's devastating performance, Hoshino managed to draw a card with trembling hands.

"The card I drew is the Quick-Play Spell—[Vessel of the Saint]! And thanks to Brave Elizabeth's effect, its secondary ability activates as well."

[● Spell Card: Restore 1000 LP.]

[Hoshino's LP: 4000 → 5000]

"Why does recovering life points feel more like taking damage right now?"

[Fire King High Avatar Garunix destroyed]

[Alister's LP: 3700 → 1600]

As the sonic assault finally subsided, Alister hesitantly removed his hands from his ears, though his face was still pale from nausea.

"Ugh…! The destroyed [Fire King High Avatar Garunix] triggers its effect—when destroyed by battle, it Special Summons another [Fire King] monster from the Deck!"

Though still reeling, Alister pressed forward with the determination of a true duelist.

"I Special Summon [Fire King Avatar Barong]!"

[Fire King Avatar Barong★★★★ (Level 4)][FIRE][Beast-Warrior/Effect][ATK 1800/DEF 200]

"Barong again?" Hoshino instinctively glanced at Doma's Valon.

Valon scowled."Oi! Why are you looking at me? I'm Valon, not Barong!"

With Barong now on the field, Alister immediately activated a face-down card.

"And at this moment, I activate my Set Trap—[Torrential Tribute]!"

[Torrential Tribute – Trap Card Effect: When a monster(s) is Summoned: Destroy all monsters on the field.]

A violent surge of water erupted from the field's center, its high-pressure torrents slicing through every monster like a thousand blades.

"You're sacrificing your own monsters just to take Brave Elizabeth down with them? That's quite the play!"

Alister smirked."Hmph. Don't forget—when Fire King monsters are destroyed, their effects activate!"

The moment he spoke, the cards in Alister's hand and Deck ignited with flames.

"I activate the effect of the recently destroyed [Fire King Avatar Yaksha]! When it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can destroy one card in my hand or on my field!"

Hoshino frowned."You can even destroy cards in your hand?"

"Exactly. And the card I'm destroying… is the Fire King High Avatar Garunix I just searched!"

"Not a bad strategy," Hoshino admitted, "but I seem to have better luck!"

Grinning, she swiftly played the card she had just drawn.

"In response to Torrential Tribute, I activate the Quick-Play Spell—[Vessel of the Saint]!"

[Vessel of the Saint – Quick-Play Spell Effect: Target 1 "Heroic Spirit" monster you control; this turn, that monster is unaffected by your opponent's card effects.]

From within the swirling torrents, a golden light burst forth as Jeanne's voice resonated.

"Oh, unyielding hero, receive the Lord's blessing and rise anew!"

…Are you some kind of priest NPC in an RPG specializing in resurrection?

"Take this!"With a single, powerful slash, Brave Elizabeth cut straight through the raging waters of Torrential Tribute.

You're actually getting used to that sword, aren't you?

"Thanks to Vessel of the Saint, Brave Elizabeth is completely unaffected by Torrential Tribute! That means the only monsters destroyed… are yours!"

Seeing Brave Elizabeth still standing, Alister was momentarily speechless. Then, sighing in defeat, he muttered:

"Destroying my Fire King monsters serves my strategy… but honestly, I really don't want to hear another one of her attack."

Hoshino smirked."Sorry, but Brave Elizabeth's concerts don't allow mid-performance dropouts!"

She placed another card into her Duel Disk.

"Ending the Battle Phase, I summon [Heroic Spirit – Zhuge Liang] in Defense Position!"

[Heroic Spirit – Zhuge Liang ★★★★(Level 4)][DARK][Spellcaster/Effect][ATK 1000/DEF 1000]

As he materialized on the field, Waver Velvet sighed in resignation.

"Concerts don't allow dropouts, but latecomers are fine? Master, double standards aren't good, you know."

"Not listening, not listening~!" Hoshino cheerfully covered her ears.

"I set one card and end my turn!"

[Hoshino's: 1 Hand Card | 2 Set Cards]

Utilizing Brave Elizabeth's effect to replenish her resources, Hoshino had once again secured the upper hand.

But Alister wasn't finished yet.

"At the end of your turn, I activate the Continuous Trap—[Call of the Haunted]!"

"I'll use it to revive the [Fire King High Avatar Garunix] that was just destroyed!"

A surge of flames erupted as Garunix was resurrected from the Graveyard, its wings ablaze with newfound vigor.

Observing the duel unfold, Rafael nodded seriously.

"It's starting now—Alister's unbreakable chain. This duel is about to get interesting."

Alister smirked, the fire in his eyes burning just as fiercely as the flames surrounding his Duel Disk.

"My turn! Draw!"

As he declared his turn, a towering inferno erupted from his Duel Disk.

"During the Standby Phase, the true power of Fire King High Avatar Garunix shall be revealed!"

Soaring high above, Garunix spread its blazing wings, its flames intensifying.

"Incinerate the sky and scorch the earth!"

(*****)

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