Images of the various things that might happen to her after being captured by the Supreme King flashed through Ghost Belle's mind.
She remembered that the legendary Supreme King Army was said to be an utterly ruthless force. Low-level spirits like her, once captured by the army, were basically reduced to fuel to be devoured.
Therefore...
"Because you summoned a monster before my End Phase ended, my End Phase reverts back to the Main Phase..."
Ghost Belle swallowed hard and looked at the cards in her hand.
"There's still a chance..."
"I still have a chance to turn this around."
"That's right, this card..."
Seeing the trap card in her hand, her eyes suddenly lit up. A smug smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Then, I set two more cards and end my turn!"
Whirr.
Ghost Belle set the last two cards in her hand onto the field, concluding her turn.
"Hey, hey, looks like it's over. That kid has no cards in his hand and no monsters on the field. As long as she can attack through, it's a victory!"
Kosuke Kunisaki was overjoyed. It looked like the duel was finally ending! He wouldn't have to live in fear of being swallowed by this bizarre Shadow Duel anymore!
"Will it really be that simple?"
Ghost Ogre didn't think so. Among the six of them, Ghost Belle was the one with the darkest heart. Once she went mad, she was a creature that even Ash Blossom would find terrifying. Moreover, those two set cards likely hid something formidable.
However, Ghost Ogre still believed in the Supreme King. Because the Supreme King's final set card... that was the one card that would truly drive Ghost Belle to despair.
Looking at the set card in front of Jaden Yuki, Ghost Ogre couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for Ghost Belle.
The reason the Supreme King hadn't used that card from the start was simply because he wanted Ghost Belle to submit. To offer a glimmer of hope, only to completely extinguish it later...
It was truly cruel.
"My turn, draw!"
Jaden Yuki drew a card from the top of his deck. Seeing the faint, unnoticeable smile on Ghost Belle's lips, Jaden deliberately paused, wanting to see what else she was trying to pull.
"Great! In this exact moment of the Draw Phase, I activate my trap card!"
Seeing Jaden draw, Ghost Belle suppressed her inner joy and immediately waved her hand to reveal her set card.
"Trap card! [Ice Dragon's Prison]! Target one monster in your opponent's Graveyard; Special Summon it to your field with its effects negated! After that, you can choose one monster from each player's field that has the same Type as each other, and banish those two monsters!"
"Since it's currently the Draw Phase, Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer's effect can't trigger yet. So, naturally, I choose the Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer in your Graveyard!"
Ghost Belle's eyes shimmered with excitement.
This was the limitation of a HERO deck. The vast majority of the monsters were Warrior-Type, which meant a card like Ice Dragon's Prison could easily snatch a favorable card from a HERO deck's Graveyard!
The [Vision HERO Adoration] and [Artifact Scythe] currently on Jaden's field didn't worry Ghost Belle. The real trouble was [Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer] resting in Jaden's Graveyard. That once-per-turn destruction ability was truly a nuisance.
Especially since her other set card was a battle trap a card that could only be activated when the opponent declared an attack.
[Mirror Force]!
Hanoi's Sublime Strength!
When an opponent's monster declares an attack, it destroys all attack-position monsters on their field!
As long as she used [Ice Dragon's Prison] to pull Jaden's Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer onto her side, and then, instead of using the banishing effect, she lured Jaden into attacking...
Currently, Jaden had [Destiny HERO - Malicious] and [Destiny HERO - Drawhand] in his Graveyard. Once the revival effect of Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer triggered during the Standby Phase, Jaden would inevitably Special Summon a Destiny HERO.
Given Jaden's personality, he would definitely summon [Drawhand], then use the effect of [Malicious] to summon another copy of itself.
However, no matter how many heroes Jaden summoned, none of the monsters he could bring out possessed any resistance to the destruction of [Mirror Force]. And once his field was wiped clean, she would still have the [Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer] she stole with [Ice Dragon's Prison].
With 2500 ATK, that was an incredibly high-level boss monster in an environment where everyone only had 4000 LP.
"Heh, hehehe..."
She had won! Ghost Belle had already simulated exactly how the rest of the duel would play out. Though her [Waking the Dragon] trick had been dismantled by Jaden, he wouldn't be able to crack this one.
"I'm about to defeat the Supreme King, hehehe..."
Laughing darkly, Ghost Belle was completely immersed in the joy of her impending victory. She was even starting to wonder if, when she flipped [Mirror Force], she should strike the same pose as Revolver to thoroughly crush this legendary duelist of the GX Era.
"So, it was Ice Dragon's Prison?" Jaden Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Looks like I'll be getting some more good cards in a moment..."
"Huh?" Ghost Ogre blinked.
Getting... more good cards? What did he mean?
"At the same time you activate [Ice Dragon's Prison], I activate my Continuous Trap!"
Jaden waved his hand. His final set card was revealed before Ghost Belle.
"Trap card, [Royal Decree]!"
Rumble!
As his voice fell, massive stone walls rose up behind Jaden. A king dressed in magnificent robes stood atop the ramparts, holding a proclamation for Ghost Belle to see.
"Royal... Royal Decree?!"
Ghost Belle was stunned. As long as this card remained face-up in the Spell and Trap Zone, all other trap effects on the field were negated.
In other words... whether it was Ice Dragon's Prison or the [Mirror Force] on her field, neither would have any effect.
"Wait..."
"Why... why would a HERO deck even have something like that?!"
Ghost Belle suddenly realized something. She realized that from start to finish, she had been dueling based on how one normally countered a HERO deck.
But the HERO deck Jaden Yuki was using was completely wrong. Not only did it run Artifacts, but it also had all these inexplicable, nonsensical trap cards.
What kind of HERO deck was this! Who plays Heroes like this?!
She was completely bewildered. Ghost Belle looked toward Ghost Ogre, who was pointedly looking away. She finally understood why Ghost Ogre had refused to tell her what those three set cards were.
Was it because Ghost Ogre already knew that even if she told her, she would still lose?
Looking at the Immortal Red Lotus that appeared on Jaden's field after the Standby Phase, an aggrieved expression finally appeared on Ghost Belle's face. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes. Her originally gloomy face now looked quite adorable.
Boom!
Under the combined assault of Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer and Adoration, Ghost Belle's Life Points plummeted in a violent explosion.
The surrounding darkness shattered instantly. The Shadow Duel arena began to collapse and disintegrate.
[JADEN YUKI WIN]
"...Wah!"
Kosuke Kunisaki fell onto his backside. Looking at the youth standing in the darkness, holding the [Ghost Belle] card between his fingers, Kunisaki instinctively picked up his camera and snapped a photo.
"Incredible... this kid, no, Jaden Yuki..."
"I never expected that even in a Shadow Duel, this guy would be so composed."
"It's like he's a veteran of Shadow Duels..."
Looking at the cool photo of the boy in his camera, Kosuke Kunisaki swallowed hard, his heart racing with excitement. If he published the news of such a powerful duelist, wouldn't it be far more profitable than those tabloid rumors and gossip columns?
In that moment, Kunisaki felt he had found the key to wealth. It was this boy. This boy who drove people mad! Jaden Yuki!
As the surrounding darkness crumbled, Ghost Belle's power was gradually absorbed into Jaden's body.
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the card: Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion]
[Unlocked Deck: Traptrix Deck]
[Unlocked Special Card: Ice Dragon's Prison]
The system notifications rang continuously in Jaden's ears.
Unlike the last time he retrieved Ghost Ogre, where the one who defeated her was Alexis Rhodes, the system hadn't issued a reward then. But this time, Jaden had personally defeated Ghost Belle. The system had handed over the "Traptrix" deck she used as a reward, completely intact.
Before his eyes, glowing cards lined up in front of him. They formed a circular cage of cards, surrounding Jaden in the center.
Those cards were, without exception, the insect and plant girls of the Traptrix archetype, along with various "Trap Holes," "Holes," and specialized trap cards.
"It seems that every time I defeat a hand trap spirit, I obtain a new deck from the 'future.'"
"So, there are four hand trap spirits left..."
"Can I supplement my collection with four more decks before the fight against the Sacred Beasts?"
Picking up one of the Traptrix monster cards, Jaden Yuki could feel the faint trace of a spirit's presence residing within.
"A new 'Supreme King Army'?"
Recalling the previous words of Ghost Ogre and Ghost Belle, Jaden's lips curled into a smirk, his eyes flashing with excitement.
Yes. These spirits who fought alongside him and obeyed him weren't they the perfect candidates for a new Supreme King Army?
A brand new plan to assemble the Supreme King Army began to take shape in Jaden Yuki's mind.
📢 MASSIVE UPDATE FOR BINGE-READERS! 📢
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