NOVEL WEB Chapter 219: 219
Unlike her sister's bold and aggressive style, the younger sister, Grace, was far more graceful and gentle.
So when she performed a Fusion Summon, her manner was also distinctly different.
"I fuse 'Amazoness Baby Tiger' and 'Amazoness Trainee' from my hand!"
"Feral beast of the jungle, borrow the gaze of a warrior that locks onto prey. Reveal your new form!"
She extended her arms, hair and skirt fluttering in an unseen wind.
"Fusion Summon!"
Her pale green eyes widened slightly.
"My beloved beast!
Appear now, Level 7, Amazoness Pet Liger!"
A fierce, one-eyed lion-tiger hybrid roared as it leapt onto the Duel Field. Down in the crowd, a yellow-clad boy stood up and cheered.
Hikaru and the others looked over. One student especially paid attention, Bastion. They all turned or looked back at him.
Be it muscle women or tiny girls, Bastion's true love was always tigers.
[Amazoness Pet Liger]
Level 7 | EARTH | Beast | 2500 ATK
"Next, I activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn, to revive 'Amazoness Swords Woman' from the Graveyard."
"Not so fast!" Chazz instantly flipped his set card. "You think I'd let you battle unchallenged? Trap Card, Ojama Trio! I Special Summon three useless monsters to your field in Defense Position!"
With that, three bizarre-looking creatures emerged from his Trap Card, flying over to the opponent's field. One lay down, one worked out, and the last sipped tea. Just loitering.
[Ojama Tokens]
Level 2 | EARTH | Beast | 1000 DEF
"H-huh…" The revived Swords Woman stepped forward with her sword drawn, only to freeze at the absurd scene.
"Whoops, pardon me."
"Apologies, so sorry."
"What're you lookin' at? Can't you see I'm working out?"
Grace struggled to maintain her elegant smile.
She regretted strengthening her Spirit Energy during dimensional travel. Now she could hear all the Ojamas' voices, and they were making her head throb.
"Yes!" Chazz pumped a fist excitedly.
Finally, that girl might be thrown off a little.
That's the power of the Ojamas. The stronger the opponent, the more their performance gets disrupted.
"Hikaru, try to clear those three monsters next turn. They only have 1000 Defense. Use Ancient Gears' piercing damage. You could do major damage!"
"That won't work." Hikaru side-eyed Chazz and coughed lightly. "I can't do that."
"Why not!?"
"As expected of Amagi Hikaru." Gloria's playful demeanor faded. She uncrossed her arms and stared seriously.
Grace understood what Hikaru meant. She gently tucked her hair with her right hand and said, "As long as Amazoness Pet Liger is on the field, your monsters can't attack any monster other than it."
Gloria smiled, her red eyes wide. "And while Amazoness Empress is on the field, my Amazoness cards cannot be destroyed by battle or effects."
"Ugh!"
Chazz looked like a dozen Ojamas were bickering in his ears.
His whole strategy had just been rendered moot, without even needing a counter.
From Hikaru's perspective, Chazz had actually done quite okay.
He'd refreshed his hand, destroyed the Quiet Life combo.
Despite that... in fact, Hikaru had been hoping Chazz would destroy the Empress, because his memory of her effect was: "While this card is in the Monster Zone, other Amazoness cards you control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects."
Turns out, this wasn't the "OCG" version.
Which made sense. In the original show, the Tyler Sisters' cards had nothing to do with Pendulums, but the OCG version gave them Pendulum effects and new support cards like Amazoness Golden Whip Master and Amazoness Silver Sword Master.
Hard to believe those weren't based on the sisters.
So in this world, they were probably using the anime-original cards, meaning Empress herself had protection too, not just other Amazoness cards.
"Battle. Amazoness Pet Liger attacks XYZ-Dragon Cannon! During damage calculation, Pet Liger gains 500 Attack!"
[Amazoness Pet Liger, ATK: 2500 → 3000]
"Ah! That's Blue-Eyes White Dragon tier. Makes sense!"
The vicious beast lunged at the machine and tore it apart.
[Hikaru & Chazz, LP: 8000 → 7800]
[Amazoness Pet Liger, ATK: 3000 → 2500]
"Hmph, nothing serious." Chazz, ever dramatic and Spirit-aware, brushed it off.
"Then, how about the second strike? Amazoness Empress, direct attack!"
2800 damage incoming!
Chazz swiftly raised a hand. "You think I didn't see this coming? Trap Card, Burst Rebirth! I pay 2000 LP to Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard face-down in Defense Position!"
"Come forth, Masked Dragon!" And since it was set face-down, the Hall wouldn't drain LP.
[Hikaru & Chazz, LP: 7800 → 5800]
"What are you doing, Chazz!?" Bastion suddenly stood up and shouted.
That alarmed Chazz, no one knew Amazoness like Bastion!
"Hehehe, while Amazoness Empress is on the field, all our Amazoness monsters gain Piercing!" Grace shook her head with a hint of pity.
Gloria patted her arm and added, "And here's another tidbit. If you somehow remove the Empress with other effects, she'll still activate her ability and revive my Amazoness Queen. I'll still have battle protection."
Damn!
Honestly, the strategy and reasoning were solid.
He just targeted the wrong monster.
"Battle continues," Grace flipped her hair. "Amazoness Empress attacks the set monster!"
Empress had 2800 ATK. The set Masked Dragon had 1100 DEF.
A difference of 1700!
[Hikaru & Chazz, LP: 5800 → 4100]
With the Empress piercing through the Masked Dragon, their Life Points took another massive hit.
If this had been a solo duel, they'd be in critical condition.
Chazz clutched his arm. Though not physically painful like a Spirit Duel, his pride stung far more.
"Sorry, Hikaru. Looks like I messed up everything..." The spectators mostly agreed. He'd tried his best, but it backfired.
Of course, those familiar with Empress couldn't help but mutter that he was dragging the team down.
"Don't say that, Chazz!" Hikaru extended a hand and tapped his forehead. "You're the proudest kind of duelist. There's no way you messed up.
Everything you did was exactly right."
Everything right?
Was this just consolation at this point?
Wait. No!
Suddenly, Chazz's eyes sparked with realization.
"So that's it. It all makes sense now!" His eyes narrowed. "I activate the effect of Masked Dragon! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one Dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less ATK from my Deck.
I Special Summon Level 1, Flamvell Guard!"
[Flamvell Guard]
Level 1 | FIRE | Dragon | 0 ATK | 2000 DEF
A classic 0 ATK wall. Chazz's Deck was full of them, but this one was special, a rare card he pulled during a club draw contest with Hikaru and Jaden.
A Level 1 Tuner monster with 2000 DEF, a high number even in this world.
And since it had 0 ATK, Hall wouldn't recover LP either.
"2000 Defense?" Grace raised her hand and softly waved. "Still trying to strengthen your defense? Even if we can't clear the Ojama Tokens, our Pet Liger and Empress are more than enough."
She set two cards. "Then, I set two and end my turn."