"Aleister the Invoker? Hahaha, how long has it been since someone called me that… it really brings back memories."
Aleister wore a nostalgic expression.
"That's right. I am one of the 'Seven Stars'—Aleister the Invoker. The guardian of a Seven Stars Gate Key. Let's have a duel full of fun, shall we~"
The two of them each drew five cards.
"You were sent by Yuki, weren't you? After this duel, I have something I want to ask you."
"DUEL!" ×2
TURN.1
The system assigned the first turn to Aleister the Invoker.
"Oh? Looks like my luck isn't bad. It's just a shame I can't duel alongside some cute girls over here~ Still, getting the first turn draw is a wonderful thing. My turn, I draw."
As he drew a card with his right hand, a glint of light flashed across Aleister's monocled eye.
"Oh~ I Normal Summon Aleister the Invoker and activate its effect to add Invocation from my Deck to my hand."
A familiar melody echoed faintly in Youmi's ears. He shook his head, forcing those stray thoughts away.
"Next… I'll borrow the power I found here. I Tribute my Spellcaster—myself~"
On the field, Aleister the Invoker suddenly spread his arms and transformed into white light.
"Huh? You already used your Normal Summon this turn. Tributing yourself is supposed to—Ah?"
The white light gradually changed shape, becoming a Spellcaster woman clad in blue-and-white robes with a graceful figure.
"Silent Magician can't be Normal Summoned. She must be Special Summoned by Tributing one Spellcaster monster you control~ And her Attack becomes my hand size ×500."
"On top of that, once per turn, she can negate the activation of a Spell Card."
"She's a great woman, right~?"
Aleister planted his hands on his hips smugly—only to be smacked on the head by the Silent Magician's staff.
"Don't phrase it in ways that cause misunderstandings. Weren't you the one who clung to my leg and begged me to help the moment we met?"
After knocking Aleister down with her staff, Silent Magician even followed up with a kick before returning to her place on the field.
[Silent Magician, ATK: 1000 → 3500]
"My apologies for the spectacle."
"Uh… it's fine."
Holding his head, Aleister climbed back to his feet, his long robe now covered in dust. "Getting hit for 2500 Attack really does hurt, haha. I activate Invocation. I send the Fusion Materials listed on the Fusion Monster from my hand to the Graveyard, then Fusion Summon that monster from my Extra Deck."
"If I'm Fusion Summoning an Invoked monster, I can also banish monsters from my field and/or either player's Graveyard as Fusion Material."
Aleister activated the blue Spell Card Invocation and revealed a card from his hand.
"I banish Aleister the Invoker from my Graveyard and send Fairy Tail - Rochka from my hand to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon Invoked Mechaba!"
After sending the card from his hand to the Graveyard, Aleister theatrically tossed his staff forward. A Summoning Circle brimming with arcane mystery spread open, from which Invoked Mechaba emerged.
[Silent Magician, ATK: 3500 → 2500]
"Why do you even have Rochka in your Deck? This really is a scumbag Deck, huh?"
"Details like that don't matter~ I activate Invocation's effect in the Graveyard."
"While this card is in the Graveyard, I can target one of my banished Aleister the Invokers, shuffle this card back into the Deck, and add that monster to my hand."
Aleister recovered his Aleister the Invoker, and at the same time, Silent Magician's Attack began fluctuating again.
[Silent Magician, ATK: 2500 → 3000]
"Mm… that should be enough for now. I Set two cards and end my turn."
[Silent Magician, ATK: 3000 → 2000]
TURN.2
"One Spell negate, one tri-color, hand revealed Aleister… one unknown card… My turn, I draw."
A digitized card appeared in Youmi's hand. He flipped it over and confirmed its effect.
"Standby Phase—no effects. Main Phase. The Beast monster in my hand, Red Hared Hasty Horse, can be Special Summoned in Attack Position to an empty column. I'll trade my 2000 ATK Red Hared Hasty Horse for Silent Magician."
"Don't look at me like that… running a card that can be Special Summoned with no self-restriction and can pop cards and hit directly is perfectly normal in a 4000 LP environment, right?"
Even with Youmi's justification, Aleister still wore a speechless expression.
"Silent Magician's effect—ignoring its summoning conditions, I Special Summon Silent Magician LV8 from the Deck."
Silent Magician changed into an older-style robe and reappeared on the field.
"Main Phase 2. I Normal Summon Mirror Swordknight."
"I Tribute Mirror Swordknight to activate its effect, Special Summoning from my Deck a monster other than Mirror Swordknight whose card text includes 'Chimera Fusion.'"
Upon entering Main Phase 2, Youmi immediately Tributed Mirror Swordknight, intending to force Aleister to expend Invoked Mechaba's effect here.
Cards that leave their original location as part of effect resolution are not banished by Mechaba's effect, allowing Youmi to leave Mirror Swordknight in the Graveyard.
"In that case… I won't activate Mechaba's effect."
Mirror Swordknight's effect resolved, Special Summoning Big-Winged Berfomet from the Deck.
"Big-Winged Berfomet's effect activates. I add one Level 4 Beast monster and one Chimera Fusion from my Deck to my hand."
The four-armed, ferocious monster landed on Youmi's field. But the moment it let out a roar, it was cleaved in two by Invoked Mechaba.
"I activate Mechaba's effect. Once per turn, when a monster effect, Spell, or Trap is activated, I can send one card of the same type from my hand to the Graveyard to negate that activation and banish it." Aleister revealed Magician's Valkyria from his hand and sent it to the Graveyard. "That negates Big-Winged Berfomet's effect, and it is banished."
"I don't know why you chose to use your negate this early, but that works for me."
"I activate Chimera Fusion from my hand. I send monsters that include at least one Beast, Fiend, or Illusion monster from my hand and/or field to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster. I send Gazelle, King of Mythical Claws and Nightmare Magician from my hand to Fusion Summon Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts."
Even though there wasn't a trace of Berfomet among the materials, Yu-Gi-Oh! was just that kind of game.
Now clad in new armaments, Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts roared again, clearly displeased with Mechaba's earlier action.
"Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts's effect activates. When this card is Fusion Summoned, I send one Beast, Fiend, or Illusion monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send the Illusion monster Master Tao the Chanter."
Youmi revealed another Illusion monster.
"And Gazelle, King of Mythical Claws' effect also activates. I add one Illusion monster from my Deck to my hand—Cornfield Coatl."
After updating his hand, Master Tao the Chanter poked its head up from Youmi's Graveyard.
"Master Tao's effect activates. When this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can target one Illusion monster in my Graveyard other than Tao and Special Summon it in Defense Position."
"After this effect resolves, until the end of the turn, I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Graveyard except Illusion monsters. I target Nightmare Magician."
A magician clad in golden robes appeared elegantly to Youmi's left and bowed.
"I discard Cornfield Coatl from my hand to add another Big-Winged Berfomet from my Deck. While Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast is on the field, Chimera Fusion in my Graveyard can be added to my hand. Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts is treated as Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast on the field, so I recover Chimera Fusion and activate it right away."
"This time, I fuse Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts with Big-Winged Berfomet from my hand."
Within a red-and-yellow vortex of light, Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts fused with itself, transforming into a ferocious Chimera.
"The materials are Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast plus one or more Illusion monsters."
"I fuse Big-Winged Berfomet from my hand with Berfomet the Mythical King of Phantom Beasts, which is treated as Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast—Fusion Summon Chimera the Illusion Beast!"
"Big-Winged Berfomet's effect in the Graveyard Special Summons Mirror Swordknight from the Graveyard."
"I Set one card and end my turn."
Whatever Aleister's face-down card was, avoiding traps meant no progress could be made.
"Alright, it's your turn now. Show me what you've got, you scumbag Aleister."
...
If you want to support, please consider Patreon, and read advanced chapters! Your support keeps this series going! [Patreon.com/RedZTL]